The Crane Husband
by Divagateros
Summary: It's been twenty-two years since their last adventure, and Joey's friends have just the best news for him. But when Kaiba and his wife are invited to join the celebrations, things get a little complicated. Joey learns that whilst things may change quite a lot in twenty-two years, they can turn completely upside-down in just one. Slow burn. Puppyshipping. NSFW
1. The Engagement Do

This story was many many months in the making. It is dedicated to storyshark2005 and all others who left beautiful, thoughtful reviews on my previous works. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

"Laws and principles are not for the times when there is no temptation: they are for such moments as this, when body and soul rise in mutiny against their rigour; stringent are they; inviolate they shall be. If at my individual convenience I should break them, what would be their worth?" ― Charlotte Brontë, _Jane Eyre_

* * *

January 4th – 21 Days before Joey's Birthday

It was that gluttonous, calm period after the holidays where everything feels somehow empty and full all at once. Snow had settled sparingly, like a dusting of shimmering white icing on the tower blocks of Domino, softening all the edges and soaking the horizon in a creamy-yellow light. The milky blue shadows were stretched long by the twilight; a thousand tramping feet had pounded the snow on the ground to slush. Joey tucked his hands as far as he could into his thick, woollen gloves as he stepped from the warmth of the old school and into the bitter, cold air.

The years had been kind to Joey – he had filled out, lost the baby fat of his teen years (and unfortunately the six-pack of his early twenties) but trimmed his lean physique through a steady diet and a keen interest in kick-boxing. His bright eyes were now lined with crows feet and a brush of coarse stubble perpetually speckled his chin no matter how often or how closely he shaved. He still had all his hair - thankfully still much closer to blonde than grey - and often wore it long, tied back into a loose ponytail. Téa would nag at him to trim it now that he was older but he liked it. It had always been his look.

He shouldered his rucksack and braced himself for the icy wind that ripped around the corner, whistling past his ears and making them sting. He hurried to the car, waving farewell through the windows to the janitors scrubbing trampled snow off the hall floors.

When the engine came on in his car, a surge of warm air rushed up through the heat vents and lifted the hair about Joey's face. He reached up a thickly gloved hand and pulled his scarf down, finally feeling warmer.

"Right," he said, twisting in his seat to back the old car out of the parking spot. "Home."

During his younger years, Yugi had spent much of his time travelling to, competing in, and winning tournaments. He was pretty famous, made so by his extraordinary talent as a competitive gamer. He ran in all the big leagues. But running can tire a man. After his last tournament, he packed up his deck and duelling equipment, put his affairs in order and returned to Domino. Once there, he moved into his late grandfather's old game shop – long since out of business – and set about making it a home.

That was five years ago. During that time, he and Téa had managed to resurrect an old spark that had never really died between them and she soon moved in. The rooms were refurbished, the downstairs swept and restocked, and presently the old place was open for business. A photograph of Yugi's grandfather stood pride of place on the counter. Customers who had known him when they were younger would touch it for luck in their duels.

A store run by the Game King himself was bound to be popular, and soon business was booming. Yugi had purchased other properties throughout the city and Kame Games was rapidly turning into a chain.

Yugi was just as busy with giving advice as he was with making sales, and it puzzled so many why he would choose to leave his life of high-lane duelling to open up shop and stay here. Yugi would always smile and look at the photo of his grandfather, his fingers lingering on the hollow at his sternum where his old puzzle necklace used to hang.

"Many wise men taught me," he said, "it pays to be humble. It's very easy to lose yourself in power.

"Besides," he added, laughing, "I think if I have to lay down any more plays with that degree of flair I'm going to throw my back out!"

Yugi always made sure there was a special display for KaibaCorp products.

After closing was Joey's favourite time. It was so still; the evening only just beginning to settle its cool hands on the earth. The shop was silent and dark: the last shoppers having dragged themselves away from the neatly stacked cards in their display cases and the Capsule merchandise shimmering in the windows. There was a small golden light in the apartment above the shop. A living room light. Joey eased himself out of the car, almost slipping on the ice forming from the slush. Driving would be impossible in the morning, but he didn't mind the walk.

He made his way carefully around to the back of the store where there was a sturdy iron staircase leading to the door, soaked with a thin layer of slush. He planted each foot firmly as he climbed and made it to the top with no injuries. He rapped on the glass of the door, and called out.

"Yo, Yugi, Téa, I'm here!"

A shape appeared in the warm glow of the kitchen, a tall silhouette with unruly spikes of hair. Yugi pulled the door open, smiling widely.

"Evening, Joey," he said brightly, as if seeing Joey was the greatest joy in his life and he had known no other. Yugi was a give-it-your-all kind of fellow. "You don't have to knock, you know, you can just walk in."

Yugi was much taller now that he had been in school, although Joey still had at least a head on him. He was gangly, with thin, soft hands and a wise glint in his eye. His hair had begun to grey, like his grandfather's, but he kept it at bay with dye, and after one brief stint of experimentation, returned it to its familiar blonde bangs and red-brown spikes. He sported a thin, chestnut beard that he combed into a tidy point, also like his grandfather. His face was somewhat lined: laugh-lined, frown-lined, but not unattractively so. Most of his aging was intellectual, behind his eyes, like the world had matured him with five-thousand years of knowledge that could never show on his skin.

"Nah," said Joey, scuffing his sneakers on the welcome mat. "You guys gotta have the option, you know, like tell me to sod off if you're busy or just wanna be alone."

"We could never tell you that, Joey," Yugi said, taking his friend's coat and folding it over the back of a chair. Joey scraped the rest of the slush from his shoes and stepped quickly into the kitchen so that Yugi could shut the cold out.

"How's the missus?"

"Don't call me that," Téa barked, stalking into the kitchen and throwing a fleeting kiss on Joey's cheek as if it were red hot. Years abroad had widened her horizons but done nothing to soften her up. She had pursued a fairly successful career as a young dancer, even making a few T.V. spots and music videos. After Yugi told her he was moving back to Domino, she came immediately. Joey joked that this was because she had always secretly wanted to be somebody's wife. Téa had hit him with a sneaker.

The reality was stability had become a rarity for Téa. She never knew when her next gig would be and although that had been fun for a long time, it was beginning to wear her down, and she was missing her old friends. Rushing through new acquaintances as quickly as revenues became old fast. Here was a home, and a man who loved her. Sickeningly conventional but very attractive, and she did love Yugi. They could make it work. So she came home.

She gave Yugi a much sweeter kiss as she moved past him, although it was still very chaste. Neither of them were big on publically displaying their affection, even among friends. Joey was grateful. Not that he had anything against them together, but seeing it in front of him made him uncomfortable. It also reminded him of how indisputably single he was.

Yugi offered him a drink, which he accepted, and they settled in the living room to play cards. It was a warm, large and familiar place. Being there felt like family.

Before they got started, Yugi placed the deck of cards carefully in the middle of the coffee table without dealing them. Joey propped himself up on the cushion pile he had assembled on the floor and looked at it.

"You want to deal, Yug? You know I'll just drop them everywhere. I ain't coordinated."

"Joey, actually there's something we want to tell you about," Yugi said, sinking onto the couch. Beside him, Téa twisted herself in close, her knees touching Yugi's. Not quite cuddling, but as close as they usually got. "We want you to know first."

"Uh-oh," Joey said, looking at Téa, "You knocked up?"

"For God's sake, Joe," she laughed, leaning across to smack his knee. "Don't ruin this, it's important."

"Okay, what?"

"We're getting married."

"What?"

Joey blinked, feeling his face begin to react before he could even take it in.

"We're engaged!"

* * *

 _He sat in the corner of the gardens, in the shade of some kind of fruit tree. It was a warm summer's evening and he could hear the sounds of music and laughter as if through a glass pane from far away. There was also the tinkling of a fountain nearby; a gentle plume of water could be seen pulsing skyward over the top of a hedge, streaming from the open maw of a marble Blue Eyes White Dragon._

 _In his hand was a sparkling glass of champagne, hardly touched. His head swam a little as he looked at it and his stomach shifted like a slug pulsing across the ground. He had accepted the refill half an hour ago from the champagne server in the fairy-lights-and-white/gold-balloon exhibition that was the ballroom. Outside was not much better: another live band in the gazebo, more fairy lights on the trees, glittering like spider's eyes in the twilight. He had cursed, hoping for a reprieve from the suits congratulating the happy couple. Outside, he had hoped, he could pretend the charade was happening elsewhere, and he, the uninvited, was none the wiser._

 _He had not wanted to come. It took a good deal of begging from Yugi to drag him out of the house in a tuxedo and his hair smarmed. Téa had fixed his tie, not quite meeting his eyes. Tristan and Serenity had also dressed up; Tristan tugging sheepishly at a tight collar, Serenity looking radiant in a shimmering silver dress. Duke ordered a limo. All his friends had been entreated with express invitation._

 _No smooth white letter had dropped through his letterbox. No gold cursive 'R.S.V.P.' or 'regards' had graced his front door._

" _We get a plus-one!" Tristan had insisted. His friends agreed. "We're gonna show him that he can't just leave you out."_

" _Besides, maybe it was just lost in the mail," offered Yugi for the hundredth time. Joey had shaken his head._

" _This is a personal thing, guys," he sighed. "I can tell."_

 _They protested and he had let them. A nearly two-decade old, untouched rivalry was unshakeable, and impossible to explain._

 _Of the group, only Yugi and his spouse were invited to the ceremony but the reception was attended by all. Highly influential individuals were there, among them some business-heads, actors, performers ("I must go get a contact card," said Téa), and the city Mayor, looking impressive wearing a sash and a smile that spread into his moustache._

 _They stood in the ballroom, awaiting the arrival._

 _The lights dropped. Spotlights bloomed into life above them and swung across the anxious crowd to the staircase, illuminating their excitable faces. They came to rest at the head of the stairs and gasps spattered across the crowd in unison._

 _At the top of the grand staircase stood the bride and groom. Her in her full, elegant white gown, pinched in at her slender waist and a wide, perfect smile on her face. She had long, dark hair and full, sweet lips._

 _Next to her, the groom: tall, unsmiling, graceful without effort. He was as dignified as the marble statues in his home, as dominating as a thunderstorm. His suit matched her bouquet. Such a pair they made, atop the pedestal staircase of their marital home. Kaiba's eye swept over the crowd but Joey did not wait to see if he was spotted, turning himself away from the spectacle._

 _The crowd around him began to applaud and Joey found himself shoving through them to get outside, his back to the newlyweds._

 _The party started behind him as the band struck up. For a while, he made an effort to remain in order entertain his friends. This was mostly Tristan and Serenity as he found out, as the others all seemed to either know somebody or, in Yugi's case, was dragged away to discuss duelling with one or other up-and-coming individual on the scene. Even Tristan and Serenity seemed more content feeding each other hors d'oeuvres than keeping up a conversation with their morose friend._

 _So at last Joey moved away through the gardens. He had found a quiet spot in the shade of a tree; settled on the gilt iron bench with resignation of a night over, pleased that he at least had managed to avoid a confrontation with the groom._

 _Or so he thought._

" _Wheeler? What the fuck are you doing here?"_

 _Joey flinched, the familiar voice scraping through the peace like a hacksaw. He steeled himself, turning to face his new company in the twilight gloom._

" _Hi, Kaiba. Long time, no see."_

 _Kaiba was looking a little less in control than when Joey had seen him atop the staircase a couple hours before. His tie was crooked and his hair mussed, as if he had run a hand through it many times. A sliver of crisp, white shirt could be seen beneath the suit jacket: he was untucked. In his hand was an empty glass._

" _For good reason," Kaiba huffed. He seemed to grapple internally for some moments before making his way over. Joey half expected him to change his mind and leave, but shifted up the iron bench nonetheless._

" _Take a load off," he offered._

" _Thanks, it's my bench," Kaiba grunted, slumping into the seat. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his head bowed. Joey tapped his feet and searched for something to say._

" _Oh, right, uh, congratula-" he began but Kaiba's head whipped around and he glared hard at Joey, his eyes unfocused._

" _No," he growled. "Not from you."_

" _Wow, jeez, okay. Sorry I'm such a blight on the rich canvas of your life, Kaiba," Joey spat, folding his arms. "Not like we've even seen each other for God knows how many years-"_

" _Seventeen."_

" _Really? Wow. Right. Seventeen." Joey raised a leg to kick a pebble crossly across the path. "Yeah, my point stands then. You got no beef with me, why pick a fight?"_

" _Your annoying presence will transgress the barrier of time," Kaiba grunted. He seemed pleased with himself for that, idly watching the dim glow from the fairy lights glitter on the edge of his glass._

" _Whatever. You're still a dick, but I'm too drunk to fight you right now," Joey muttered, sinking back. "I'll pummel you some other time."_

" _Sad that you have to resort to inebriating yourself to the point of incapacitation to keep from punching people," Kaiba said mockingly, clearly hoping for a rise. All that happened was Joey raised a half-formed fist and landed a lazy punch on Kaiba's upper arm. "Watch the suit, mutt."_

 _Joey did not bother to open his eyes. "Or what? Gonna bore me to death with more stupid parties?"_

" _You should not have even come to this one."_

 _Joey looked up, straight at Kaiba, who was staring off into the distance. His soft brown hair moved with the warm summer breeze._

" _Why not me?" Joey said._

 _Kaiba bowed his head as if blocking his ears with his shoulders could make the question go away._

" _Come on, Kaiba," Joey said, attempting a laugh. "Man to man. It's been seventeen years. You said yourself. Why invite everyone else and not me, huh? I must have really pissed you off if you're holding a grudge for this long."_

 _Kaiba stood suddenly, gripping the glass with white knuckled fingers._

" _You know what?" he whispered. Joey watched, feeling his legs begin to curl against him defensively. "I wish…" he looked over the hedges, where the guests were laughing and singing in celebration of his wedding day. "I wish I didn't have to do this."_

 _Joey stared. "Do what?" he said._

" _Everything."_

" _Everything? You mean like the wedding or dancing or something?" Joey was genuinely perplexed. Kaiba had his back to him and his shoulders were shaking._

" _Everything!" he bellowed. He took the glass in his hand and threw it hard at his feet. It shattered with a crash like a gunshot. Joey cried out and lifted his feet off the ground as glass flew in all directions._

" _Dude, what the-"_

 _He was cut off as Kaiba strode over to where he cowered, ferocity harrowing his countenance. His feet crunched glass. He reached down and gripped either side of Joey's head in a vice. It was firm, not painful, and although the sudden movement startled him, the probing way Kaiba's eyes searched his face held him as still as stone. Kaiba's mouth was tight as a seal, his brow furrowed, his shoulders tense. He was a man on the edge._

 _Before Joey could speak or react, pounding footsteps on the path spooked them. Kaiba's hands were whipped away as Tristan sprinted around a corner._

" _Joey!" he cried, puffing. "Came looking for you and heard the smash. Thought something had happened and Kaiba was gonna have our throats for breaking something. Oh, hey, Kaiba." He straightened up, looking abashed. He shook Kaiba's hand, who was stock still as if shell-shocked. "Congratulations on the thing."_

" _Yes," Kaiba said, suddenly business. The air turned cold. "Thank you. Please enjoy the rest of the night."_

 _He swept away._

" _Good to see you, man," Tristan called after him. "Jeez, what a weird guy. You okay, Joe?"_

 _Joey shook himself. He scratched his head. "Yeah," he said. Above them, fireworks began to crack and chatter over the roof of the house. Tristan's eyes went up, watching them dance, but Joey's were down, looking at the shattered remains of the glass, watching the colours glitter off the jagged edges._

" _Weird guy."_

* * *

Joey's face cracked into a huge smile. He scrambled over the coffee table with as much grace as a rhino in mud and smothered his friends with his entire body. They laughed and said things like, "Joe, get off!" and "Ow, my arm! My arm!".

Eventually Joey backed off, sitting on the floor between them and the coffee table, wiping his eyes on his sweater sleeve.

"Joey, there's no need to cry," hummed Yugi, shaking his friend's shoulder. "It's happy news."

"I know that," snuffled Joey. "It's happy tears, ain't it. You guys are gonna make me start blubbin'." He composed himself and shuffled back to his pile of cushions, resting his elbows on the table. Yugi began to deal the cards. "So you gonna have like a big wedding and everything?"

Yugi glanced at Téa who shrugged, leafing through a magazine on the table. "Well, we haven't really decided the details yet, Joe," he said. "We're going to work it out later. But there's going to be an engagement party for our close friends to start with."

"Aw, great, I love a get-together," Joey grinned, arranging his cards chronologically in his hand. "Who's coming?"

"Well, you, obviously. Your sister if she would like." Yugi began ticking the guests off on his fingers. "Duke, Tristan and anyone they want to bring. The Ishtars if they can make it over. Anyone you might want to bring along. Oh and er," he paused, glancing at Téa again. She sighed, dropping the magazine.

"Just tell him, Yugi, he can handle it."

"Right." Yugi shuffled his cards nervously. "We're inviting Kaiba too."

"What?"

"And Mokuba of course," Yugi added quickly.

"Oh, come on, really?" Joey sat back in a huff. "That mook? He won't even come, bet you anything."

"Well, he was kind enough to invite us to his wedding," Yugi offered.

"Invite _you_ ," Joey corrected angrily. "Well just invite him to the wedding, then, why bother with the engagement thing? I told you, he won't even come."

"Well, then what's the worry, Joe? If he won't come anyway you won't have to see him."

"The worry is that he _will_ come."

"But you just said-"

"Well, I'm usually wrong about these things," Joey grunted, slapping his first card on the table. In his frustration he did not even notice how low of a play it was. "He'll come and he'll bring his woman."

"Joey, for God's sake," Téa reprimanded. She reached into Yugi's hand and grabbed the card he had been debating playing and defeated Joey's monster with it without a second glance. "Will you stop with that? She's nice and she's not a threat to you. She's just like Kaiba really."

"My point exactly."

"Oh, Joe, it'll be fine."

"Alright," Joey shrugged, dropping his monster into the graveyard pile. "Just don't say I didn't warn you."

Later, when Joey had curled up in what used to be Yugi's bedroom, which Téa and Yugi now used as a spare room (and was so often occupied by Joey that he had his own drawer with extra underwear and toiletries), Téa washed the dishes quietly in the kitchen as Yugi brought them in.

"Go to bed, Téa, I can take care of this," Yugi said, placing a hand on her arm. She shook him off.

"Don't be silly," she said. "You have to be up tomorrow to open the store." She flicked suds at him playfully and he chuckled. "I want to be able to look after you. You've always been there for us."

"That's not what this relationship is, Téa." Yugi rolled his sleeves tightly above his elbows and plunged both hands into the water. "We need to be together as a team."

"You're so cheesy, you know that?" she giggled. "We are a team, silly. I wouldn't have said 'yes' otherwise."

Yugi mused whilst he scrubbed. There was no room in the bowl for both their arms so presently Téa took to drying plates.

"Do you think Kaiba got married for the same reasons we are?" Yugi asked after a while. The question had hung on both their tongues for many years. Only their recent announcement had thrown it into light. Téa slipped a plate into a cupboard with a clatter and straightened up, twisting the tea towel between her fingers thoughtfully.

"For love? I don't know," she admitted. "It's Kaiba. When has anyone been able to tell what he's doing?"

"He cares very much about his brother," Yugi said, passing her a pan. Soap hit the floor with quiet snaps. "I think he does many things for Mokuba."

"Even get married?"

"Who knows?"

Yugi hefted the last pan onto the drying board and together they headed for bed. Téa twisted her hand through Yugi's as they mounted the stairs in the dark. Strange shapes emerged beside her along the wall as they climbed. Before her, Yugi's solemn silhouette was majestic as the Pharaoh on his golden throne.

She was disconcerted by the concept that Yugi so resembled the Pharaoh now that he was older. His voice as velvety as humming violin strings, his stature proud as a lion on a mountainside. She felt shame that her heart was pulled by his wise eyes and steady hand. She worried that she had held no love for the boy, but a great desire for the man he had become.

He was still Yugi. Still a nerd with a goofy smile and a brave heart. When he said something entirely bookish, or was picked on by Tristan or Joey, she still felt a surge of love and this reassured her. Her greatest fear was that the love she held for her husband-to-be stemmed only from the half of him that he never truly was.

But beside him in bed, his soft eyes gazing at her as if she was the sweetest thing he had ever had the true fortune of beholding, she counted her lucky stars as the warm dark pulled her under.

* * *

January 15th – Ten Days before Joey's Birthday

The news of the engagement spread quickly. Tristan had whooped for joy and high-fived Yugi at the announcement, earning a stern smack from Téa who warned him that is was not a conquest. Tristan reacted the same way as Joey to the news of the engagement do, advising Yugi to strike Kaiba off the guest-list as, in his words, he 'bothered Joey'.

Joey clapped him on the back, grateful for the support. It fell on deaf ears, of course.

The night of the party, Joey pulled up to the hotel entrance, feeling out of place in his banger of a car. The concierge did not laugh at his scruffy hair or untucked shirt, instead offered him a drink and seated him with his party at a modest table in the corner of the restaurant.

Yugi and Téa were there, looking smart, her in a long green dress and him in a plain burgundy shirt that matched his eyes. Duke and Tristan each gave Joey an easy wave and, next to them, Serenity bounced to her feet for a hug. Duke was still looking lean and had kept his thin waist, which was perplexing to all. His long, dark hair was thinning, and curled a lot more these days. Tristan, beside him, was pot-bellied and cheerful, with his strong shoulders and unkempt stubble. They seemed to have been midway through a fierce arm-wrestle.

Next to Yugi, on the other side of the table against the wall, sat Marik and Ishizu, looking as demure as a couple of church pastors.

"Hey, guys," said Joey, shaking Marik's hand and receiving a small peck from his sister. "Long time, no see."

"So it has been," said Ishizu, reseating herself. She had adorned her hair in the usual golden trinkets and was wearing a delicate cream dress with fluttering sleeves. She did not look out of place against the white-panelled wall with its golden sconces and gilded fringe. The bangles on her arms tinkled like piano keys as Marik helped her tuck in her chair. Her dark hair was lined with sliver strands – the only sign of her aging. Ishizu was a timeless being. "How do you find yourself?"

"Alright," Joey said. "Can't complain. How's Egypt?"

"Hot," Marik grunted. "I missed it here."

Ishizu's light-haired brother was still short and gangly with skin the colour of wet sand. His eyes were like a grey sky, dark and cold as winter. Joey chalked it down to being possessed by an evil entity. His dark half had been vanquished, but the memories stung.

"Yes, the weather requires quite a degree of climatisation," Ishizu sighed, patting her brother's hand. Joey switched his gaze to her as Marik twisted his napkin fretfully, his eyes ever downcast. "But we shall be here a while."

A waiter appeared with bottles of champagne. They watched as he poured it swiftly into eleven glittering glasses around the table.

"How long you planning on staying?" Joey asked.

"A month, perhaps longer." She glanced momentarily at her brother who gazed into his glass with unreadable silence. "We have some research we would like to continue at the museum. So this event proved fortuitous for many involved." She raised her glass in a delicate toast to Yugi and Téa, who smiled in return.

"Ah, right," said Joey. "It's you guys' night! Anyone done a speech yet?"

"Still waiting for someone, aren't we?" Tristan pointed out, raising an eyebrow at Joey.

"Of course," muttered Joey. "Any word from the elusive rich boy?"

"He said he'd come," offered Yugi. "Perhaps he's held up at work."

"Yeah or just rude," Joey grunted.

"Or walking through the door," said Duke who had twisted in his seat to people-watch.

Across the heads of the other patrons and floral centrepieces stood Kaiba, sending a civil nod toward the concierge as he was directed to his seat. His long midnight-blue jacket clung tightly to his shoulders and brushed the back of his knees as he walked.

Beside him, and about a foot shorter, strode Mokuba with an easy grin on his face. His long black hair was slicked back into a tight, couture ponytail and his suit crinkled at the elbow as he crammed his hands into his pockets nonchalantly.

On Kaiba's other side stepped his wife. She was tall, almost as tall as he, with long dark lashes and full, red lips. Her dress was as dark as his coat, falling elegantly to the floor and floating like ocean waves across the carpet as she walked. She was steady and delicate as a willow, her smile bright and kindly. The manicured hand that gripped Seto's arm was white as marble.

Quite a party they looked. Kaiba brought them to stand austere as autumn by Yugi's side, curtly gripping his hand in a brief congratulatory shake.

"I'm sure you all remember Isamu," he said. She released her grip on Kaiba's arm to kiss Téa.

"How good to see you all again." Her fluttering eyes fell on each of them. Could it have been his imagination? They lingered for the briefest fraction of a second longer on Joey. They were as dark brass as his own. Then the moment popped like a soap bubble as she squeezed herself in to sit beside Téa.

Kaiba took a chair on her other side and Mokuba plopped down next to Joey.

"Heya, squirt," he grinned. "How you been?"

"Not bad, thank you, Joey." Mokuba had grown into a fine young man. A few inches taller than Joey, he had a warm, intelligent aura complimented by a bright smile and sparkling eyes. His chest was broad and he filled out his suit nicely. He was no longer by any means, Kaiba's 'little' brother. "Yourself?"

"The usual, you know."

"Are you still working at the school?"

"Ey, he remembers," Joey joked. "Yeah, the kids keep me busy. Not nearly as exciting as what you guys have been up to so I've heard."

Mokuba flashed his brother a cautious glance. It was at this point Joey realised Kaiba had been following their conversation steadily. Beside him, Isamu was engaging Yugi and Téa in glittering conversation and both seemed transfixed by her wind-chime voice.

"It's coming along," said Mokuba, tugging his eyes back to Joey. Behind him, Kaiba frowned. "Although the prototype won't be ready until next week."

"So what is it exactly?"

"Well, it's-"

Just then Kaiba cleared his throat, loudly cutting his brother off. Mokuba spun in his chair to shoot him evils.

"Come on, Seto, it's not that big of a deal," he grunted. "It's just Joey."

"Precisely." Kaiba's voice was sharp as a penknife. Yugi, Téa and Isamu all turned to watch their conversation. "It's just Joey."

"Back, off, would you, Kaiba?" Joey said, calmer than he felt.

"Don't know what the dog would do with the information," Kaiba continued, his eyes on the glass he held to his lips. "Not like he could afford one."

"Look, pal," Joey shot. "The only reason I'm not grumblin' is because it's Yugi and Téa's night and they wanted you here for some reason. Back off, or I'll make ya."

"Ought to keep him on a leash, Yugi," Kaiba said, still glaring at Joey. "He still hasn't learned a single manner. Should have known you'd bring out the entire freak show, of cou-"

"Seto!"

To the party's surprise, this came from Isamu. She gripped his upper arm furiously and looked as if she was ready to commit him. "What has gotten into you?"

Kaiba flicked his eyes to his wife before shunting them around the table. All gazes were on him. Tristan fidgeted nervously in his seat.

"Excuse me," said Kaiba eventually. He stood, shaking Isamu's arm off like it was dirtying him, and stalked around the table and out the restaurant, his hands digging in his pockets.

"What…" Isamu looked mortified. Her red fingernails shone like glass as she held an astonished hand to her mouth. "I have never seen him like that."

"What, really?" Joey grunted, leaning back in his chair. "He's always been like that. Selfish, arrogant pri-"

"Joey!"

"Sorry, Yug, but the guy's a tool." Joey hung his head. "Has been for years. Won't change."

"He did change a lot, Joey," Yugi insisted. "After what we went through, he must have."

"What you went through?" said Isamu suddenly. "What was that?"

The entire table fell silent. Glances were shared, quick and abashed, like a bunch of foxes caught in headlights.

"You don't know?" said Téa, her voice low. "He never told you? About Egypt? And the Spirits?"

"I'm sorry, I have no idea," Isamu said. "He told me Egypt was a business trip." She looked genuinely confused. And hurt. Joey felt himself bristle.

"Seriously? You been married, what? Five years? He never told you what happened?"

Isamu shook her head.

"Jesus," Joey growled, kicking back his chair. "You lot fill her in. I'm gonna give that guy a piece of my mind."

"Joey-" Yugi began, almost to his feet, but Joey was halfway across the room, and Isamu's wide, hurt eyes held him prisoner.

As Joey shouldered his way through the spinning glass doors, the cold hit him like a truck. Tiny white snowflakes were beginning to swirl down from above, scattering about him like glitter. Above him, the hotel lights glowed with a warm yellow hue in the black night and the snowflakes twinkled in the headlights of passing cars. He shivered, digging his hands hard into his trouser pockets and hunching against the chill. People in thick coats with large bat-like umbrellas pushed passed him as he stomped around the building on the hunt for Kaiba.

He spotted him leaning against a wall in a tight, shadowy alleyway down the side of the hotel. He had his back pressed against the stone, taking long drags on a skinny cigarette. He had only his thin coat to bare up against the cold night and the steamy plume of his breath mingled with the silver smoke as he blew.

Joey's anger faded with the billowing smoke as he caught sight of the dark circles under Kaiba's world-weary eyes.

"Bad for you, that," he murmured, stepping closer. Kaiba turned slowly to face him. Joey noticed the strokes forming around his mouth, the pencil-thin lines that deepened his scowl. "Gonna get yourself killed."

At this Kaiba twisted the cigarette out of his frozen lips and let forth a dry laugh. "Lasted a lot longer than anyone thought I would, mutt," he said. "Gonna take more than a few sticks of tar."

"Maybe but life's funny like that," said Joey, scrunching up his arms against the cold and leaning on the wall next to Kaiba. "One minute you think you're invincible. The next, well, you're in hospital with tubes jammed up your wotsit and horrendous liver failure."

Kaiba was silent for a moment. He took another slow drag.

"I heard about your father," he said simply. There was no sympathy, but then Joey never really wanted any.

"My old man never saw it coming," Joey grunted. "Everyone else did, but there you go. Just watch yourself. We're not young anymore."

"I don't believe I even asked for your opinion," Kaiba said, squashing the burnt-out butt against the snow-speckled stone. He rocked back onto his feet and squared up, ever on the offense. Joey straightened, not to be outdone. "Why did you follow me?"

"To give you shit," Joey taunted. "About why you never told your wife a damn thing about yourself. About us. Your _friends_."

Kaiba snorted - " _Friends_." - and made to push past, but Joey was quicker. He stepped to one side like a security guard, blocking Kaiba's path.

"Come on, moneybags," he growled. "It's a big deal. She's your _wife_. In sickness and in health and all that. You gotta have told her _something_."

"Not that it's any of your business," Kaiba ground out, "but I felt that it was unnecessary for her to know." He tried to push past again but once again, Joey blocked him.

"You still got a real attitude problem, you know that?" he said angrily. "You act like you don't even wanna be married to her. You're a lucky guy, Kaiba and she don't deserve you."

"Are you quite _done,_ " Kaiba hissed. His arm whipped out of nowhere and Joey found himself almost ripped off his feet. Kaiba had his collar in a tight grip.

"Whoah, hey-!"

"Stay out of my business," Kaiba scolded, shaking him. Joey's head rattled. "Or I'll make you."

Joey scrambled until he found a solid purchase on the slippery path with his feet. Using all his weight, he gathered both of Kaiba's wrists in a tight grip and forced him back against the wall. Kaiba grunted as his back slapped against the stone but peered down defiantly as Joey accosted him with a fierce snarl.

"Look," Joey said, his voice low. "We're not kids anymore. We're adults. We're men. We grew up, didn't we? We got our differences, everybody knows that. But I'm sick of this same shit every time we hang out, Kaiba. Seventeen years, last time you said."

"Twenty-two," Kaiba corrected quietly. "Now."

"Right, yeah, twenty-two years we known each other. You can't possibly tell me you still want to keep goin' with this. Isn't it just easier to drop it? Let bygones be bygones and all that? I'm willing to let a lot of it go." To illustrate, he took his hands from Kaiba's wrists and took a step back. "I'm tired," he added. "Aren't you?"

Kaiba grunted, not meeting Joey's eyes. Joey took another step back and stuffed his arms into his armpits, fighting the chill that made him shiver uncontrollably. Judging by the crease in Kaiba's stern brow, he seemed to be mulling something over. For a moment there was only the sound of the wind as it murmured through the alleyway, and of the cars trundling past the hotel entrance.

Then,

"I didn't tell Isamu a lot of the things that happened because I still don't quite believe them myself," he said quietly. "Looking back, it seems like nonsense. Children with overactive imaginations. Stories in virtual reality. The magnitude of the risk was…" He seemed to see something haunting for a moment: a monster in the street. "It was inconceivable."

"We could have lost a lot," Joey agreed. Kaiba looked at him. "We could have died. But we didn't."

"Life's funny like that."

Joey could not help cracking a small smile that was almost returned.

"So a truce?" Joey said, scuffing his shoes against the frosty paving stones. "For this evening?"

Kaiba's sigh was visible in the shimmer of grey that wafted between them. It was enough.

"Well," Joey said, nudging him with a toe. "I guess we go back in and… I dunno. Act civil?"

"I'll lead," said Kaiba, already striding back to the entrance. "You'll fuck it up."

"You wanna bet?" Joey huffed, scrambling after him. "I'll be the most damn civil polite person there ever was! I'm gonna cream you, Kaiba."

If Joey had been in front of Kaiba as he walked, instead of hurling challenges at the back of his head, he would have seen the ghost of a smile cross Kaiba's face.

Isamu was no less pleasant once Kaiba and Joey returned, and merely threw her husband a 'we-will-talk-about-this-later' look before striking up a charming conversation with Duke about his new game in development. It turns out she was highly knowledgeable about many subjects, including the gaming industry. Well-respected, well-connected and dazzling as a rose in sunrise, it was hardly surprising that she had all the boys blushing. Kaiba did not seem to notice. He spent most of the evening staring absently into sequential glasses of champagne.

Joey and Kaiba had managed the evening, as promised. They even spoke to each other, albeit briefly and with an air of forced civility. Yugi shot Joey a few puzzled looks when this happened, and Joey responded to each of them with a cursory shrug. Téa watched it all shrewdly, expecting it to be a joke. Upon realising it was not a trick (and chiefly for the benefit of herself and Yugi) became cheerful and full of unspoken gratitude. Joey revelled in the accomplishment of at least making his friends happy for the evening.

When it was time to leave, all sorrows were genuine. Téa promised to stay in contact with Isamu and Yugi had his hand heartily shaken by each male guest in turn. Ishizu lifted his hand in a reserved way and wished him well with her genial smile. Hugs were exchanged, and in due course Joey found himself face-to-face with Kaiba.

They held a steady gaze, hearing the sounds of goodbyes ringing behind them as the rest of the gang gathered their coats.

"So," said Joey, extending a hand. "Until another five years?"

The corners of Kaiba's mouth twitched. He reached out and gripped Joey's hand firmly. His fingers were as warm as if he had heated them on a radiator all evening. There was no literal shake, only an increase in pressure from them both, but then, before they were pulled apart by their friends ushering them out of the door, Joey felt himself be yanked forward by the merest fraction of an inch. It could almost be passed off as a nervous twitch if it was not for the steady assurance in Kaiba's eyes, the way they flicked down the length of Joey's body so quickly that the only reason he noticed was because his eyes were bearing just as heavily up on Kaiba's face.

In that moment, Joey felt a spark.

"I-"

But before he could even start a sentence, he was tugged away by Téa, who began forcing his coat sleeves up his arm. His hand tingled, the feeling zipping up and down his body, dizzying and warm. Ears reddening, he wrestled his coat on – batting Téa away – and charged for the door, his friends laughing and buzzing around him. He could sense Kaiba's eyes burning into his back and he felt himself go redder.

They called a taxi in the cold, their babble mingling with the sounds from the street. Their breath misted before them and the snow still fell steadily all around. Joey fought the urge to watch the door, drilling his hands harder into his pockets, burying the sensation of Kaiba's warm grip.

He lost the battle, twisting his head in what he hoped was an unnoticeable way.

Kaiba had already left. There was no sign of him.

Disappointment and relief struck Joey in overpowering waves. He felt sick and guilty and horrified all at once. He shook himself, desperately forcing his attention back into the conversation. It was a mess of words, as hard to untangle as a drawer full of string. He caved to his instincts again, this time turning fully to face the door.

Kaiba's eyes met his across the garden.

He was stood in the doorway, his hands working a crimson scarf about his neck. He must have forgotten it, and returned to collect it. In the road, his car awaited, quietly rumbling, with what must be Isamu and Mokuba inside. Kaiba twisted the scarf into a neat array and tucked it beneath his coat. Joey realised he was staring and pulled his gaze away, hoping the frigid air would hide the real reason for his stinging cheeks, now as red as the colour of Kaiba's scarf.

There was a crunching of shoes on slush, and, to Joey's disquiet, Kaiba approached, his eyes on Yugi.

"Congratulations again, Game King," he said, gripping Yugi's mitten in his own leather gloved hand. If Yugi was surprised at Kaiba's reappearance, he didn't show it. "It's not as easy as it looks. Don't fuck it up."

This was as close to heartfelt as Kaiba ever got. Yugi was so touched he was beaming.

"Thank you, Kaiba," he said. "We've already got you as a great example."

The merest flash of a grimace seemed to darken Kaiba's countenance for a moment, but before any of them could decide it was really there, he was turning to Joey, his demeanour all business.

"A word?" he said. Without waiting for an answer, he whipped about and strode about ten paces away.

"Right…" Joey turned to his friends, who could only offer puzzled looks and shrugs. He returned the best of both of his own and sauntered after Kaiba.

They came to rest half-concealed by an ornate hedge.

"Take your time," Kaiba grunted when Joey joined him.

"What's up, moneybags?" Joey cut across. He was cold, tired and confused. The feeling of Kaiba's warm hand still pressed into his palm. He tried to scrunch the sensation away.

Kaiba took a deep breath through his nose. Joey wondered if he was going to start another fight. He simply said,

"Did alright tonight, didn't we."

Joey glanced up, surprised, and Kaiba met his gaze with relaxed brows for once.

"Yeah, I s'pose," Joey agreed, shrugging. "Could have been worse. Could have punched your lights out in the alley."

"Pft, please, as if you could-"

"But," Joey interrupted, wagging a finger. "We got through."

Kaiba shook his head, twisting his collars up against the cold. "I can't imagine we'll be seeing each other until the wedding then. Yugi says it'll be in summer." He tightened his gloves. Joey realised he was fidgeting. "So in the interest of bygones, take care of yourself, Wheeler."

Joey blanched. "Nah, come on, we'll see each other before then. Come over and play cards with us some time."

"I really don't have the t-"

"Actually I just realised I didn't even give you a wedding gift," Joey interrupted musingly. He ducked his head. "Was feeling pretty shit about the no-invitation thing so I kinda didn't think about it. I'll bring you something. Stop by the ol' office sometime."

"I would rather you didn't," Kaiba said bluntly.

"Naw, come on. Least I could do. You turned up for Yugi tonight." Joey grinned in the direction of his friends, who were watching them from a distance. "He's buzzin' about that, you know."

Kaiba brought gloved fingers to the bridge of his nose. "Wheeler, I don't want a wedding gift from you."

"It's alright, I'd be happy to-"

"No," Kaiba snapped. "Not from _you_!"

Joey bristled, the hairs on his arms standing up beneath his sleeves. He felt anger and humiliation bubbling in his blood. He reacted in the only way he could think of. Retaliation.

"Well, tough," he bawled. "You're getting one! And it's gonna be the best one you got 'cause I got just the thing. Asshole."

With that he turned on his heel, red-faced again, and stomped to the taxi.

Unbeknownst to the rest of them, Ishizu and Marik lingered, watching Kaiba tremulously rearrange his scarf as the taxi rumbled away into the falling snow. The wind had begun to pick up, sending the flakes dancing about the sky in torrential clouds of white. Marik marvelled at his sister's bare arms and unprotected face, clinging his cloak tighter about his body.

Before them, Kaiba twisted his scarf irritably where it refused to sit right. Eventually he ripped it off and started over.

"I'll wait for you over there," said Marik quietly, slipping away from his sister. "Try not to confuse him too much."

Kaiba watched Ishizu approach with wary eyes.

"What do you want?" he said, thrusting the scarf into the aperture of his heavy coat.

"A word," she said directly.

"Unnerving," grumbled Kaiba, brushing snow from his hair. It settled again immediately. "I've had quite enough of your words for one lifetime, Ishtar."

"I was watching you over drinks," Ishizu continued coolly. "I may not have the Necklace anymore, but some things are always clear. Perhaps your destiny cannot be avoided after all."

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," Kaiba snapped.

"There's been a shift," she said, ignoring him.

"Tectonic, perhaps."

"Spiritual," she countered and Kaiba wrinkled his nose. "The Rod is going to call to you again, and you will heed it. You're drawn to power, Kaiba, which explains a lot about this evening."

"What are you talking about?"

Ishizu stepped forward and looked for a long time into Kaiba's eyes. He met her gaze steadily, as if she were a test he must somehow pass. Snowflakes caught on her thick eyelashes. Eventually, she said,

"I know what is in your heart, Kaiba. I see how your eyes linger on him. I'm not surprised at all, because you and I are similar beings, Kaiba. We are but splintered halves, and he is one glorious, glowing whole. How could you not be drawn to it?"

Kaiba scowled. "I am not a half."

"You misunderstand me," Ishizu sighed. "The things we had to separate ourselves from, he has found a way to embrace. He is powerful and strong, and when the time comes, you'll be grateful for it. You might think you can write your own future, Kaiba, but our _true_ destiny lies in here." She pointed to his heart, over his heavy coat. "I think the truth we despise is more powerful than the fiction we create, and in the end, worth so much more. Heed my call when it comes."

With that, she turned gracefully on her heels, sweeping her flowing hood up to hide her face, and, taking her brother's arm, disappeared into the growing blizzard.


	2. The Blue Eyes Statue

January 17th – Eight Days before Joey's Birthday

On a cold Monday morning, Kaiba arrived at work at 8:34am.

He left at 9:07am.

On his way out, he decided to do something he had not done in many years. He walked home.

The air was as crisp as dry leaves. Domino was already alive with morning commuters, channelling through the streets like schools of fish migrating to work. A few stray hands pointed in his direction so he slipped on a pair of darkened glasses and yanked his collar up high. Hardly inconspicuous but the best he could do on short notice.

Meanwhile, back in his office, the phone dangled off the desk, the receiver cracked with a split through the plastic like a glacial fissure.

It had been an awful conversation, one that would be impossible to forget. As hard as he pushed it away with the sensation of his boots sinking into the snow and the icy air whipping the shells of his ears, the harder it came tumbling back. What he had been told. What he had to do.

At least half an hour into his walk, Kaiba rounded a corner and halted, his feet kicking up the new-fallen snow with the force of his stop. It was quieter here. Seeing the street stretch out before him, Kaiba began to be cognisant of his folly: it would take him hours to get home. He slowly approached a lone bus shelter and eyed the destinations printed on the faded map. Buses were not his forte and he was soon muddled by all the numbers and routes. Just as he was about to give up and ring for a car, a familiar voice piped up behind him.

"Hey, moneybags."

Kaiba turned slowly.

"Your ability to appear when I least want to see you is unfathomable."

Joey's eyes widened and he spread his arms in disbelief. "Wow," he said. "Just when I think we got this down to a 'T' you throw another pile of horse shit at me." He jabbed Kaiba with a gloved finger. "You gotta cut me some slack somewhere, dick bag."

"You're irritating me." Kaiba realised too late that his voice was half-full of humour.

"And you look stupid," retorted Joey. He grinned impishly. "Take off the glasses, idiot, you aren't fooling anyone."

Kaiba hesitated, but slipped the article away from his face. His eyes were fixed on Joey.

"So what you doing out here, anyway?" Joey asked, scuffing the snow with his boot. "Got lost?"

Kaiba opened his mouth to answer. And when he closed it again Joey broke out laughing.

"Wow, you serious?" He guffawed, clapping Kaiba on the arm and scooting past him to check the timetables. "If you're trying to get to town, you want the other side, man. How did you even end up here?"

"I walked," Kaiba said matter-of-factly, ruffling up to disguise his embarrassment. Joey, being a kindly sort, let it slide.

"From your house?" Joey gaped. "Jeez, you must have left early."

"No." Kaiba was beginning to feel annoyed. He screwed up his face to concentrate. "I'm trying to _get_ home. I came from _town_ , I _walked_ , I ended up here. Are you usually this dense?" he added, opening his eyes. Joey looked non-plussed. "Never mind, answered my own question."

"Well," said Joey. "I'm on my way to work. You want me to walk you to the right bus stop? I think there's actually one around the corner that can get you kind of nearby."

In his pocket, Kaiba's fingers curled around his cell phone. With a sigh and a sharp nod, he indicated for Joey to lead on.

"Weird to see you not in the centre, or dangling from a helicopter," Joey commented as they fell into step beside each other. "Taking the bus is way too normal for you."

"I'm flattered you think so." Kaiba had to slow down to match Joey's easy gait. It was requiring more concentration than he had expected. Joey moved with a relaxed assuredness, like the sun rumbling across the sky. He had a destination but was in no particular hurry to get there. Kaiba strode like every step would be his last.

"Yeah, you gotta always be so dramatic and all," said Joey. "Gotta have the best."

"It's what I know," Kaiba said, shrugging stiffly. It had been a tiresome morning. His legs ached from walking farther than he had in a while and he was dreading the return home, though he knew he had no choice but to return immediately. It was impossible for him to hold this off any longer. Something about the stress of the morning must have shown on his face or in his tone, because Joey swivelled his head to look at him for a long moment. His scarf obscured his mouth.

"Did something happen?" he said.

Kaiba wetted his lips. It was like licking ice. "Nothing that concerns you."

"Oh," Joey said. "Well, whatever it is, hope it's not life-ruining or anything."

Kaiba stopped dead in his tracks again and the snow splashed over Joey's jeans, sprinkling them with white. Joey spun to face him, eyes wide.

"What?" he said. "What did I say?"

Kaiba seemed to shake himself: an imperceptible shiver of his head and two rapid blinks. "Nothing," he said evenly and marched on past. "Nothing at all."

Joey had to jog to catch up, and grip his elbow to turn him down the correct street. Kaiba followed more studiedly after that, and almost crashed into Joey when they reached the bus stop, he was following so closely.

"Well, here it is," Joey said lamely, gesturing. "I'd stay with you to make sure you get it but I gotta be at work in five."

Kaiba scrutinised the laminated route map with narrowed eyes, as if searching for a way to prove Joey had been wrong. Also to hide his burning cheeks.

"Well, then."

Kaiba looked over. Joey was hovering, clearly unsure of how to exit this awkward encounter. "Good luck with whatever it is."

Kaiba nodded slowly, pressing his lips into a thin line. "I appreciate your direction," he said. To Joey, this was all the thanks in the world. He cracked a smile, and turned with an easy wave. Kaiba's eyes lingered on his retreating back.

"What would you do if-" Kaiba began, but caught himself. Joey turned quizzically. Faced with his full attention, Kaiba drew himself up once more. "What would you do if you had a child?" he asked, a little too quickly. Joey blanched.

"I, er," he said. Kaiba watched him, expressionless, reading the confusion flickering across his face like a moth. "Well, I'd be happy, I guess."

"You would?" Kaiba's tone was flat.

"Yeah, why not?" He shrugged. "Kids are cool. And fun. You get to take them to the park and teach them stuff. I work with kids," he added. Kaiba raised his eyebrows like this was new information.

"You do," he said thoughtfully. Joey lingered for another moment.

"Why?" he asked.

Kaiba's eyes flickered to the ground. He studied the footprints in the snow. "Posterity."

Joey had not the faintest clue what that meant but he refused to give Kaiba the satisfaction of asking him. "Okay…" he said, very slowly, before twisting around to leave again. Once again, he halted.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "I'll bring your present to you soon. I finally found it."

"Wheeler, do _not-"_ Kaiba began, but Joey had already walked away, leaving only large footprints in his wake.

Kaiba glanced back up to the bus stop, then dug his cell phone from the confines of his pocket and called a car.

* * *

At home, Kaiba stood at the door to his bedroom with one hand on the door handle, drawing in a great breath. Inside, he knew he would find Isamu, possibly dressing as it was still early for her. Perhaps applying make-up in her tall vanity mirror, nightgown drifting gossamer on the carpet. Kaiba looked to the ceiling, took another deep breath, and opened the door.

"Oh, hello, darling," Isamu trilled from the bed, lounging with a magazine, her hair pulled into a delicate ponytail. "You're back early."

"We have something to discuss." Kaiba's formality was changeless. Even to his wife, his diction was absolute in its austerity. "Right now."

Isamu blinked. She rose herself into a sitting position and waited, hands folded in her lap. Kaiba pinched the bridge of his nose so tightly that he might be trying to pull the whole thing off.

"Your father called me this morning," he said, by way of beginning. Isamu stiffened, but said nothing. "You know the terms of our engagement were absolute. He has followed through with everything that was promised me but there's something else he wants."

Isamu was standing slowly, an expression of fear beginning to creep onto her face. She tucked one arm across her chest and let the opposite elbow rest on her wrist, so that she could press the palm of her hand to her lips. Kaiba was beginning to pace, touching the edges of the furniture in the bedroom as he passed them. He was like a wild cat at the edge of a cage.

"His interests have changed. Me being married to you is no longer enough."

Isamu was beginning to look positively panicked.

"He wants a grandchild," Kaiba said, ceasing his pacing. "As soon as possible."

Both of Isamu's hands covered her face. She was shaking.

"Seto, you can't-" But Kaiba was already removing his jacket.

Isamu backed away from the bed, her eyes wide, bright and pleading. Kaiba was looking past her, his dark expression lingering on unhinged. Isamu had only seen him like this once before, when someone had threatened Mokuba. The man responsible was still missing.

"Seto, you know this isn't what I want," she said, her voice cracking. "I can't have a baby, I _won't_ have a baby. You don't want one either," she reasoned desperately. Kaiba was standing at the edge of the bed, his shirt opening like a gaping maw. He looked dangerous and helpless all at once. "I know what this marriage means to you but you can't make me do something like this." She shrieked as he approached her, his eyes dark as a pit and terrible as a demon.

He was cornered, she knew, by her monstrous father.

He reached for her and she dashed past him, but Kaiba was too fast and he caught her deftly.

"Seto," she begged as he snatched her wrists up, dragging her to the bed. "Look at yourself. Look at what you're doing to please him. I thought you didn't want that anymore. Seto, _look at me!_ "

He did so, his head swivelling so fast it might ping off. She ripped her wrists out of his grip and grabbed his face with both hands.

" _Don't be like Gozaburo_ ," she gasped, a last resort. This worked. Kaiba blinked, furiously shaking his head and pulling away. Now it was her turn to catch him, making soft sounds and cradling his face. He buried his head in her shoulder and they sank to the floor. His breathing was so heavy. She stroked his hair, offering as many soothing sounds and gentle caresses as she could.

"I love you," she said. "I love you but I won't do this for you. Not this."

Kaiba's head came away from her shoulder and he fixed her with an icy glare.

"Then you don't love me at all," he hissed. Isamu felt the fury rise in her gut. "So don't pretend to."

She leapt to her feet, applied a direct and sharp slap to his exposed cheek and swept out of the room.

Kaiba sat for a moment before he rose. Then he took a hand-held mirror from the dresser and threw it at a far wall. It shattered into a hundred pieces, each shard a knife-like portrait of his weathered face. He dropped to the floor once more, alone, burying his face in his hands.

He had been so close. So terribly, terribly close.

* * *

January 19th – Six Days before Joey's Birthday

It was Saturday. Joey palmed the blithe plastic of the telephone, pondering and fearing the heinous crime he was about to commit. He had a number, scrawled on a post it from a Google search in one hand, and an unsympathetic plastic machine in the other. He sat hunched on his bed, weighing the two objects with trepidation, using the edge of the phone to scratch his chin.

The meeting the other day with Kaiba had been vexing. Not because of Kaiba's insufferable certitude that Joey was out to ruin his day when that was at best only a little bit true, but because Joey had rather enjoyed it. And now he sat rigid on his bed, a modest brown cardboard box by his side, contemplating the possibility of a further curious encounter. The meeting at the bus stop had been entirely an accident. This was most certainly not going to be.

Yet Joey's guilty conscience and unwavering faithfulness to his friends would give him no respite if he did not at least try to give Kaiba a present. What he felt was owed.

Taking a steadying breath, Joey dialled the number in his hand.

"Thank you for calling KaibaCorp, leading innovation in competitive gaming circles. Please hold to hear options."

A crisp mechanical voice took him through some choices and with every press of the number pad he felt his hands grow sweatier, his scalp pricklier. He did not suppose his visit came down to 'customer complaints' or 'information about the nearest retailer' (which would be Yugi's anyhow) so he opted to hold for 'anything else'.

After an agonising period during which his phone jangled with repetitive loops of music, someone picked up.

"KaibaCorp customer care, how can we help you today?"

Joey's breath hitched in his throat. He had not expected Kaiba to answer, of course, it was a public number, but for a split second he had hoped it might happen and now found himself disappointed.

"Uh, yeah," he said, easing into what he hoped was a nonchalant tone, despite his tingling fingertips. "Um, this might be a bit weird but I need to talk to Seto Kaiba."

There was a long silence from the other end, before his correspondent spoke again.

"I'm afraid we're not authorised to put you in direct contact with Seto Kaiba," he said briskly but not angrily. He had an accent that Joey could not place, but was chipper and soothing like springtime.

"Yeah, I figured, but I don't have his number, only this one I found on the 'net," he said, feeling foolish. "It's Joey. Joey Wheeler. Kaiba's... pal from school. I was in his tournaments." He trailed off, not sure that the man on the other end was privvy to Joey's exploits or his and Kaiba's rocky relationship. If he was, he showed no signs of it.

"Well, thank you for calling us, Joey," he said evenly. "I really can't put you in touch with Mr. Kaiba myself, but I wish you luck in contacting him."

"No, come on," said Joey, itching with growing abasement. "Can't you put me through or give me a number or something?"

"I really can't I'm afraid."

"Okay, well is there someone else I can talk to?"

There was another pregnant silence. Joey, who had begun to pace, waited with pressed lips. Then the correspondent spoke again,

"Alright, let me just speak to my supervisor," he said finally. "Would you hold?"

"No problem."

After another spell of chipper music and two more repeats of his first conversation, Joey was promised that although no one could put him in direct contact with Kaiba, they would relay his message to headquarters and he must wait for Kaiba to reach him. Hands slippery from anxiety and feet unable to keep from pacing the flat, he stuffed the package into his shoulder bag and set off into town.

Outside was freezing, but clear. He swung on and off the bus to greet a city thick with shoppers. He joined the ranks, mooching through the stores half-heartedly, thumbing the cell-phone in his pocket and resigning himself to a wasted trip.

Much later, with a bag heavy with new videogames and an afternoon beer in his belly, Joey finally got a call from an unknown, hidden number. He shouldered his way through the tables in the bar, pressing his phone to his ear and trying to blame his butterflies on the booze.

"Hey," he said awkwardly, "Joey speaking."

"Wheeler," came the curt, smooth voice and Joey's heart played a samba. "I got your message. You could have just asked Yugi for my contact number if you were so desperate to speak to me."

Joey mentally slapped himself. Of course Yugi had Kaiba's phone number. They were practically business partners at this point.

"Blonde moment," Joey said casually, glad that Kaiba could not see the shade of red he was likely turning. "But I got you in the end."

There was a chilly silence but Joey was not going to be the one to break it.

"What did you want, Wheeler?" Kaiba demanded quietly. "I'm at work. Busy. Unlike some."

"On a Saturday?" Joey said. He was met with only more silence. "Well, anyway, I got something for you… Y'know, what we talked about the other day?"

"I thought I told you not to," Kaiba said and his voice was frosty as metal in snow.

"I know," said Joey with a shrug he forgot Kaiba was blind to. "I couldn't help myself. You'll like it," he added with confidence. "C'mon, moneybags, think of it in the interest of more bygones."

Kaiba sighed, but said, "Fine. Come at five. If you're late I'm-"

"Not letting me in," Joey finished. "You're getting predictable, Kaiba." Joey could almost hear his scowl before the line went dead.

Joey approached the glass doors to KaibaCorp at ten to five. He was subject to two security checks on his way in and had his bag searched. They examined the gift he had brought with a cold indifference that made Joey wonder if anything looked interesting to them, and directed him to the elevator with an arm like a traffic sign.

On the top floor, Joey was searched again with another detector. He wondered about the rigidity of it all when he caught sight of himself in a darkening window. Scruffy and unkempt, he stood out against the sharp surfaces and cool designer decor.

He was directed into the office by an aging security guard wearing an earpiece. Joey he thought he recognised him but the years had drained most of it away.

Inside – at the end of a long, windowed office – perched Kaiba. Smart as its occupant, and rather capacious, the office stretched like a green mile from door to desk. Luscious pot plants with expanses of fluttering fronds formed a guard either side of the door and the decisive angles on the sconces threw beams of light with edges as crisp as paper down the sky-blue walls. Joey disentangled himself from a plant and took in the towering bookcases stuffed with folders and tomes, the single black couch, and the austere master at the far end, behind an oak-coloured desk. He was sat with his fingers steepled, a pair of thin, wire-frame glasses perched on his nose. His normally vivacious eyes were dark and languid. They settled heavily on his visitor.

"Wheeler," Kaiba greeted gently.

Joey shrugged his backpack off and made his way to the desk, eyeing the vast room. It was simplistic in its excellence, rather unlike Kaiba, whose dramatic flair extended from his manner to his dress. Joey noted his huge, sweeping, white coat draped over the back of his office chair, like a snowy mountain peak.

Joey dropped his own coat from his shoulders and folded it over the leather sofa on the way to the desk.

"You're almost late," Kaiba grunted, watching his approach.

"Yeah, well, I was practically being strip-searched wasn't I?" Joey snorted, swinging the bag onto the desk. Kaiba narrowed his eyes at it as if he was afraid it might bite. Joey noted the hard lines in his fine face.

"I brought you something," he confirmed, gesturing to the bag. Kaiba brought his hands onto his knees expectantly.

"So you said," he said. Then, again, "I asked you not to."

"Hate doing what I'm asked," Joey said breezily, procuring the box from his bag and dumping it in front of Kaiba. He settled against the desk, knocking a stapler over. Kaiba swept it away into a drawer. "At least look at it before you decide you hate it."

Kaiba sniffed. "I thought you said I would enjoy it," he said almost teasingly. His long fingers reached for the box as Joey shrugged, heavy and easy.

"Been wrong before."

Joey was acting coy, Kaiba thought. By the way his earnest brown eyes fixed on Kaiba's hands as they searched the box for an opening, he was anxious for a reaction. But as Kaiba lifted the object heavy in his palms, he forgot Joey was even in the room.

Out of the box came a model, modestly carved of something clear and weighted: perhaps glass. The intricate form of a coiling White Dragon curved up from the depths of a crystal plinth, poised for an attack, its eyes shimmering with two identical cerulean stones. It wasn't spectacular, but it was pretty, and tasteful, and Kaiba' eyes widened as he looked it over. The chiselled edges glinted in the light from the ceiling lamps.

Joey fidgeted, brushing the back of his hair idly with his fingers.

"Sorry, it's more for _you_ than both of you to be honest," he said, shyly. "But I've known you longer and I figured that ornaments are a pretty safe bet for couples. Can be enjoyed by anyone." He gestured loosely, watching Kaiba's expression, which had not changed. "I figured you got a lot of gravy boats," he added quietly.

Kaiba carefully set the dragon on his desk. "Quite a collection," he admitted. "I'm surprised you managed to find something…" he hesitated, a cutting remark visibly perched on the edge of his tongue. He swallowed. "Like this."

"Flea market, to be honest," Joey admitted, shrugging. "You can find some cool stuff there. Picked this up a while ago and thought it was neat."

"This was purchased for yourself?" Kaiba said, his eyes lingering over the detailing on the creature's tail.

"Not really." Joey bounced his shoulders again. "It… uh…" He turned away, feeling awkward. "I thought of you when I bought it. Kind of hard not to, really." He gestured to the framed tryptic of Kaiba's three Blue Eyes White Dragon cards hanging in tandem on Kaiba's office wall. "Didn't think I'd actually get a chance to give it to you, since we haven't spoken in God-knows."

Kaiba said nothing for a long moment. He set the ornament gently on his desk as if to see if it would look nice there. Joey grinned, feeling as though he had done something rather good.

He must have shifted or something, because Kaiba's eyes whipped to him suddenly, as if seeing him for the first time since he had walked in. His face deepened into a scowl and he thrust the statuette back into the box and into Joey's arms.

"I don't want it," he said spitefully. "Go find some other charity case to chuck your unwanted junk onto. I'm not interested. Now get out."

Joey blanched, cradling the gift in his arms.

"What?"

"Are you deaf as well as incompetent?" Kaiba barked at Joey, whilst slamming a finger onto the intercom. "Get me security," he shouted into the microphone. "Someone let a stray _dog_ into the building. Have someone come check it for fleas as well as brain damage."

" _What?!"_

Kaiba made to stand as if preparing to throw Joey bodily from the office. His glasses fell off but his hands were trembling too much to catch them. They clattered to the floor behind the desk. Kaiba's eyes without them looked tiny and piercing.

Joey was having none of it.

"No _way_ , Kaiba," Joey hollered, slamming the box back onto the desk. "I bust my ass bringin' you something I _literally_ spent years hangin' on to so that one day you could have it and you-" He spluttered, so angry that speech became difficult. "You were fine with it just now!"

"I _told_ you not to bother," Kaiba bellowed, stepping out from behind the desk to physically force the present into Joey's arms. Behind him, security crashed through the doors into the office, followed by a grumpy-looking animal control official.

"See, I _told_ you it was just gonna be some guy he's fighting with, and not an actual dog," he said despondently, gesturing at Joey. "He does this _all the time_."

Two burly security men wrestled Joey to the floor as he roared and writhed, determined to pummel Kaiba as hard as humanly possible. Kaiba still held the box, and as Joey was hauled to his feet by the scruff of his neck like a hapless kitten, Kaiba raised the box high in the air.

"Don't you dare, you asshole!"

Kaiba opened his hands just as a sweet voice trilled, "What's going on here?"

Isamu stepped into the office where chaos reigned.

Joey stood still trapped in a tight chokehold by one of the security guards, his arms twisted behind his back, frozen in mid-struggle. The other guard, who had busied himself checking the perimeters of the office, now whirled around to investigate the source of the great crashing sound, his taser drawn. Kaiba, still as a statue, his palms splayed as if he were about to give a mighty clap, met his wife's eyes over the dented brown box on the floor of his office. The animal control guy just scowled at everyone for wasting his time.

"Isamu," choked Joey, turning purple. "Slap him for me, will you?"

Isamu smiled, her lips a berry pink today and her long, full lashes fluttering. She smoothed the skirt of her expensive suit and rearranged her heels before speaking again.

"Muller," she said sweetly, "let my friend go, please, he's turning a frightful colour."

Joey felt the arms about his neck drop away. He took a moment to get his breath back, rubbing his throat where the man's forearm had pressed in. Kaiba had clenched both his fists, meanwhile and dropped them by his sides, glaring daggers at the floor.

"Thank you," said Isamu. "You may all go. There are no criminals here. We'll alert you immediately if we see one."

"With all due respect," said Muller, gesturing towards Kaiba as if to say, 'it's him I have to obey'. Kaiba snapped his attention between Muller and Isamu, refusing to meet Joey's glare. He shook his head minutely.

"Just go," he said to Muller. With a stiff nod, all three attendees left the office. Finally Joey, Kaiba and Isamu were alone in their wake. Isamu was first to break the silence.

"What's this?" she asked, dropping into a crouch to retrieve the box. By the way it shuddered and clattered in her hands, Joey could hear it was broken. "Joey, is this yours?"

"It was," said Joey. "I was bringing it, um…" He gestured, searching for a good lie; now that the Blue-Eyes was damaged, it was hardly a fitting present for her. "I, er…"

"He wanted me to fix it," Kaiba lied quietly, taking the box from her hands. "I told him I haven't the time."

"You're busy, I know, darling, but surely you have time for an old friend?" Isamu said, placing a hand on Kaiba's forearm. Kaiba looked at it as if it confused him. Isamu smiled angelically and kissed his cheek softly. Then she swept to Joey and took him by the elbow.

"Goodness," she said in a loud voice, bustling him away, without giving them a chance to say another word to each other, let alone exchange any punches. "It's late, isn't it? Shall I call a car for you?" In a much quieter voice, she added, "Don't worry, Joey, I know more than you think."

"You do?"

"Yes." She steered him to the elevator and turned him to face her. He was struck with a powerful waft of teasing perfume that made him giddy. He watched her face with careful eyes, conscious of Kaiba stood not ten feet behind her near his desk, still holding the cardboard box. Before him, Isamu's almond eyes widened imploringly. "I'm sorry for my husband. I wish there was a way we could make it up to you."

Joey glanced back over her shoulder to Kaiba, who was sifting through the contents of the box. A fairly large chunk of the statuette caught the light and Joey could see its head was missing, as well as a wing and an arm. He sighed heavily.

"Just wish he wasn't so much of an asshole," he admitted. Then he corrected himself. "Not that he is all the time, 'course but…"

"I understand," said Isamu. "Perhaps we can arrange something else, something more on your terms and we can try again? It's a slow process, trying to be my husband's friend. I'm still working on it." Her tone was light, but Joey could see the truth in her eyes.

"Well," he said with a shrug. "It's my birthday next week. I'm not doing anything special, but if you wanted to, you're welcome to come to the pub with us and have a drink or two. Small crowd. Yugi, Téa, Tristan, my sister. The usual." He gave her the name of the pub and the time they would meet.

"We'll be there," said Isamu, with one of her brightest smiles, and patted Joey's hand with her own. He could not help it: he kissed it like a gentleman would, and went to back out of the room with an awkward wave. Before he left, he threw one last look at its cantankerous occupant, to see him resting at the desk, bent over the scattered pieces of the Blue-Eyes. Glasses back on his nose, he had arranged the pieces neatly into some mysterious order only he could decipher and Joey was reminded of Yugi, bent over the golden Puzzle so many years ago, carefully fitting each piece together until the whole, beautiful thing granted him the wish he yearned for most in the world: a friend.

Isamu blessed his exit with a blown kiss and Joey left quickly before he could stop himself.

* * *

January 25th – Joey's Birthday

After work that Friday, Joey headed to the pub with a heavy coat and a feeling of dread in the pit of his stomach. Tristan and Serenity had messaged to say they were already there, and Yugi was coming straight from the Game Shop after having received an expected delivery rather late. Joey had no idea if Kaiba and Isamu were to make an appearance. Part of him rather hoped not.

The snow was falling softly, hushing the sounds of the city nearby, and wetting the tips of Joey's nose and ears. Beneath him, it burst into slushy flurries and darkened the toes of his boots as he walked.

The pub was lively when he entered; glowing with yellow lamps and full to bursting with the sounds of clinking glasses and merry voices. It was warm here, a striking contrast to the frigid, thin air outside, and Joey slipped out of his coat immediately. At the bar, several young men were chatting and laughing, the servers rushing from side-to-side like flies in a barn. All around, the booths spilled over with patrons laughing and chatting as music hummed through the speakers, loud and jaunty.

Joey pushed through the thrall until he found Tristan and Serenity perched at a table in a corner, him chugging a tall pint, and her sipping on a cool cocktail sparkling in a shallow glass.

"Joey!" Tristan bellowed, surging out of his seat to pull Joey into a hug. "Happy birthday!" He slapped Joey on the back with gusto, spilling part of his drink onto the floor. Joey wrestled him back into his seat with a laugh.

"He already drunk?" he asked incredulously as his sister stepped up to hug him. Her long red hair bounced about her shoulders in pretty ringlets. Even in her thirties now, she had the face of someone much younger.

"Such a lightweight; he's only had one," she said, her eyes wide. "Keep an eye on him. Let me just get you a drink, Joe, and then I'll give you your present."

"You don't have to-" began Joey, but Serenity had already gone, her small figure disappearing into the crowd.

"She's so great," said Tristan, peering after her with a lopsided smile. "I would date her again."

"You will not," said Joey warningly. "Or I'll punch you again."

"Yeah, yeah." Tristan drained his glass and fixed Joey with a sharp stare. "So how was work?"

"The usual. Kids were great. They made me a card and gave me a huge box of chocolates," Joey grinned, slinging his coat onto the back of a chair and sinking into the seat. "I should have brought them but I left them in the car." He cast his eyes about. "Any news from anyone, yet?"

"Nah. Yugi's on his way, though."

"Cool."

Tristan watched him for a long moment over his glass, leaning a little to one side. Joey wondered if this was because he was studying him or if he was about to topple over.

"What?" Joey said.

"You're fidgeting," said Tristan accusingly. "What are you not telling me, Joe?"

"Nothing."

"Don't tell lies, your nose will grow."

"Shut up," said Joey, irritated. "It's nothing. I just invited Kaiba to this thing and I'm kind of regretting it."

If Tristan had been taking a sip, Joey was sure he would have done a spit-take. As it was, he just stared at Joey with open horror.

"You invited _Kaiba_?" he asked in a hiss, glancing about as if Kaiba were listening closely, ready to pounce upon hearing his name disparaged. "Why the Hell-"

"I dunno, it seemed like a good idea at the time," Joey grunted, interrupting. He had already had this conversation a hundred times in his head. It felt pointless to have it out loud. "He might not show, so whatever."

"He came to Yugi and Téa's thing," Tristan pointed out.

"Yeah, but that was like… a ceremony or something," said Joey crossly. "This is just my birthday drinks, not anything special."

"I won't hear any of that now," said a voice behind them. Joey wheeled about in his chair to see Téa stood before him, shucking her coat with Yugi's help, and glaring down at him from on high. "I'll smack you."

"Thanks for the well-wishes," said Joey, brightening immediately. He leapt to his feet and pulled them both into a tight hug. They wished him happy birthday and pushed a package into his hands. It was wrapped in crinkly paper with little Duel Monsters cards printed upon it. As he tore into it, Téa slipped into a seat whilst Yugi disappeared to order drinks. Inside the package was a brand new Duel Disk apparatus and a box of expensive cards. Joey laughed delightedly and gave Téa a tight hug, which she batted away good-naturedly and told him it was nothing.

When Yugi returned, Joey hugged him too, feeling cheerier.

"Did you see Serenity when you were there?" asked Joey as they sat down. "She's been gone a while."

"She's on her way back," said Yugi, slipping Téa her lemon and schnapps. "She went to the toilet and then got caught talking to Isamu."

"To who?" Joey said.

"Isamu, Kaiba's wife," said Yugi, frowning at him. "I thought you invited them?"

"I did," said Joey, his good temper ebbing. "I didn't know they were here already."

As if on cue, Joey's sister reappeared with a pint of amber liquid for Joey and another cocktail for herself. Behind her came Isamu, sporting a glittering bottle of champagne, and a long silver evening dress. Mokuba stood at her side, looking rather casual in a simple shirt and dark jeans. Trailing behind them sheepishly, was Kaiba.

"Joey," Isamu trilled, smiling brightly. "Happy birthday! Here." She pushed the bottle into his hands. It was cool as ice and rather heavy.

"Thanks," he said, allowing his cheek to be kissed. "You sure we're allowed this in here?"

"Of course," Isamu laughed. "Don't worry about it, darling." She buzzed about the table like a queen bee, greeting each of the others in turn with warm smiles and kisses. Mokuba came forward and clapped Joey on the shoulder.

"Happy birthday, Joey," he said with a perfect smile. "Got you something." He fished in his trouser pocket and drew two tickets to the Kaibas' next tournament finals. VIP privileges. Joey showered him with thanks. "In case you aren't in it." He winked and moved away to greet the others.

Finally Joey stood alone, facing Kaiba, who cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Made it another year," he stated, extending a hand. Joey took it carefully, and found the pressure to be firm, not painful. He grinned.

"I'm a survivor," he said. "Thanks for coming."

"Let's not get mushy."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

Joey moved out of the way to allow Kaiba to pass. As he did so, he caught Joey's eye, and Kaiba hesitantly patted his shoulder in a stunted gesture of apology.

"Happy birthday," he muttered. Joey just grinned and pushed him into the seat next to him.

Duke arrived later with Marik, who made apologies for Ishizu, explaining that she was caught up in her work and would be seeing him later. He presented Joey with a small, curious box wrapped in black, which turned out to be a slab of some sort of smooth rock, with symbols carved upon it that Joey could not fathom.

"It's for rejuvenation," explained Marik, settling next to Isamu. "And long life."

"I've seen these," Isamu said excitedly, examining the slab. Joey allowed her to take it, and then pass it around the table for everybody to investigate. "Was it made traditionally?"

"As far as I know," said Marik, tracing the shapes. "The oils are hard to come by but I don't think the texture would have this finish otherwise."

"My thoughts exactly."

Later on, when Joey had a few more beers in his belly, he felt a craving that he had not experienced for a while and nudged Kaiba in the ribs.

"You got any smokes?" he whispered so that Téa would not hear and lecture him.

By way of response, Kaiba stretched to dig in his jacket pocket on the back of his chair and fish out a packet of cigarettes. He surreptitiously slipped one free underneath the table and popped it into Joey's waiting fingertips.

"Thanks."

Making his excuses, Joey slipped out of the pub and into the cold night. He hugged his coat tight around him as he lit up, watching the snow whisper past the streetlamps, light as dancers; an elemental ballet. His cigarette was flavoured like mint, and he laughed at Kaiba's particular tastes.

The door to the pub opened behind him, and he whirled about, ready to hide his cigarette should it be Téa or his sister. However, the tall figure of Kaiba emerged, his coat wrapped snugly about his frame, the red scarf pulled tight around his long neck. In his arms was a large, black box. He spotted Joey across the lawn, as Joey pulled on the last of his cigarette, stamping it into the snow at his feet.

Presently, Kaiba came forward, the sounds of laughter from the pub almost drowned out by his crunching feet and the swish of his coat. Joey watched him carefully. In his arms he carried the innocuous black box.

"What are you doing out here?" Joey asked, refusing to acknowledge the rush that dizzied his head, at the sight of Kaiba striding magnificently over the snow, with what he could only assume was a gift in his arms. "It's cold as shit."

"I have something for you," came the calm reply, and he transferred the box. Joey took it and weighed it in his hands. The material was soft as satin, but with the ocean-like shimmer of velvet – as if it were styled after moonlight on a black cove. It was heavy, too, the contents shifting slightly with each move of his arms.

Joey attempted to lift the lid and almost dropped it.

"Here," said Kaiba quietly, catching it and holding it steady. Joey smiled apologetically and removed the lid. It slid up and away with a soft, satisfied sound. Inside, on a bed of blood-red satin was the most beautiful and accurate rendition of a Red-Eyes Black Dragon Joey had ever seen.

He lifted it out with utmost care, only half-aware that his jaw was hanging open. The thing was ebony as the blackest night, carved carefully and glitteringly as if chiselled from the very heavens and adorned with crimson Mars for its eye. It strung out its neck as if hunting for prey in the dim twilight, specks of snow gathering like stardust on its faceted muzzle. Joey twisted it all about, trying to take in the delicate bat-like span of its wings, the ruby glint in its lidded eyes, and hold on to that first flare of awe, as if expecting the thing would be taken from him in the next moment.

"You like it."

Joey tore his eyes from one dazzling creature to the next. Having half-forgotten Kaiba stood before him, holding the satin box, he started, shuddering back to Earth.

"Yeah, it's amazing," he said, setting it back into the box. "Way better than the one I gave you before."

"It's not a competition," said Kaiba, and then looked surprised at himself.

"That would be a first."

Joey gathered the box close to his chest with as much care and gratefulness as he could. He dusted the snow away as it gathered atop the lid, wondering what to say next, but Kaiba saved him the trouble.

"I had thought you might want one to replace the Blue-Eyes. Also I couldn't think of anything else," he admitted after a pause.

"Well, you know me, I'd be happy with a pint," Joey said, shrugging benignly. "But I don't regret giving you the other one, you know. Despite… you know. Did you manage to fix it, by the way?"

Kaiba hesitated, and then fiddled with the clasp on his coat for a moment with one leather-gloved hand. His eyes, when they met Joey's were perfectly blue and flat.

"No, unfortunately. It was beyond repair."

Joey nodded, feeling as though there was something Kaiba was hiding from him, but decided to let it slide.

"Well, thanks anyway for the present," he said, jiggling the box. It shuffled about inside as though it were alive. "I'll take care of it."

"I have no doubt that you will."

Joey smiled awkwardly at Kaiba's molten expression and was glad of the heavy gift in his arms that kept his hands imprisoned and occupied. Kaiba had no such restraints and lifted a finger to caress the edge of the box. Joey felt his face heat and cleared his throat to rid the rust that was forming there.

"So, you wanna go back in?" he asked, drawing the box away. Kaiba's hand stiffened and he withdrew it into his coat-pocket.

"Actually I have to leave," he said abruptly. "My car is coming."

"Oh, just for you?" Joey said, and was unsurprised to hear the heartache in his voice that he hoped Kaiba was deaf to. "What about Isamu and Mokuba?"

"Another car will be along later for them. I have work."

"Oh. So I guess I'll see you in a couple months, then?"

"Of course. I can hardly miss the dweeb wedding when I've been so expressly entreated to attend." He checked his watch and the turn-up of his collar in quick succession, stepping aside to let Joey pass back indoors. Joey remained where he stood, studying Kaiba's cold countenance that sat so ready to shift between vivacious and hard-set whenever Joey riled him.

"We want you there, you know," said Joey. "For real."

Kaiba said nothing long enough for a car to slide gently around the corner, its headlights sweeping broad light over Kaiba's stern face for the briefest moment before settling at his side, and Joey thought he saw gratitude there in Kaiba's eyes, in that second of clarity. The intensity of it was as warming as if he had drizzled hot butter on his tongue.

"Till we see each other again, mutt," was all Kaiba imparted, before he slipped into the driver's seat and was swept away with the wind.

That night, Joey rode the taxi home with Yugi and Téa, his belly pleasantly full and his head only slightly spinning. He relished in the sweet afterglow of a peaceful night: Tristan and himself exchanging in-jokes like old times, Téa's hearty laughter, and at the end, Isamu's gentle hand on his in a fond farewell. Her eyes had seemed like syrup then; warm and sweet as honey.

"Did it work?" she whispered, her mouth close to his ear, and Joey fancied he could hear the peel of her lipstick as she opened her lips. Joey smiled, feeling the weight of the black box against his ankle underneath the table.

"It worked," he whispered back, absently dragging her sleek, black hair away from her shoulder with his fingers. It fell soft like silk onto her back.

"Good," she said, straightening. With a bright, dazzling smile, she took Mokuba's arm and allowed him to steer her away. Joey was left in a haze of lavender perfume.

In the taxi, Téa lolled her head onto his shoulder, half-asleep. Her hair drifted into her face, sticking to her lips as she breathed. From the other side, Yugi pulled it tenderly from her mouth and tucked it behind an ear.

"She likes to think she can stay up," he laughed quietly to Joey. "But she always falls asleep first. It's cute."

"I remember in Duellist Kingdom," Joey snickered. "And she didn't half snore."

"'M awake, you guys," mumbled Téa from between them. "And I will smack you both."

Joey and Yugi exchanged amused glances in the dark above Téa's drooping head. Joey watched Yugi twist a hand into her limp fingers on the seat between them.

At home, Joey helped Yugi take Téa to bed. He slipped her shoes off and waited politely in the kitchen whilst Yugi finished undressing her for sleep. Joey had dragged two mugs from the cupboard and begun to make tea when Yugi entered the room.

"She's sleeping," he said with a mighty yawn, dropping into a chair. Joey plopped a steaming mug of tea in front of him and sank into the chair opposite. Yugi smiled gratefully and gathered the mug to himself as if to harvest its warmth. The steam plumed in front of him and made Yugi's face a blur. "It was a good night."

"Yeah," said Joey, blowing on his tea. "Hope Tristan made it home okay. Think he's probably puking his guts out right now."

"You okay with your sister taking him home?" Yugi asked with concern. "I thought you weren't keen on the idea of them being together?"

"If she needs anything, she'll call," said Joey, waggling his phone. "I offered to help, believe me. But she's stubborn and she wants to take care of him. I reckon she still loves him. I reckon they're gonna make it work in the end."

"Let's hope," said Yugi, taking a sip. "Hey, Joe, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Joey noted the change in tone. He pushed his tea aside to give his friend his full attention. "What's up?"

"Well…" Yugi searched for words. Joey saw his fingers slip to his chest, squeezing absently at the place just below his sternum. "Lately I've been feeling something is… off."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, imagine someone you love is shouting your name from really far away. That something is wrong and is hurting them, but you can't see them or reach them. You can't _go_ there, because there isn't a _there_." He fingered the sides of his mug restlessly. "It's something about the spirit, I'm sure of it."

Joey parted Yugi's hands to keep him from scalding himself.

"You reckon the Pharaoh is in danger?" he asked. Yugi shook his head, frowning.

"No, not exactly," he said. "More like he's warning me about something. Something I shouldn't do. It's only been happening since Téa and I announced the engagement. Joe…" Yugi reached across the table with both hands and gripped Joey's forearms in an unexpected show of instability. Joey held him right back and waited.

"Joe, I'm terrified it's because we're getting married. I know that Téa had feelings for him. More than me. What if this is a warning? I can't stand the thought that I won't make her totally happy." Yugi stopped, his lip trembling. Joey spoke as he composed himself,

"Come on, Yug," he said, giving Yugi's arms a little shake. "You know that's not true. Sure, she might have liked the Pharaoh back then but she's with _you_ now. And you're really like him, you know. She's in love, Yug, I've never seen her like this. And, let's face it," he added with a laugh, "with us, it's way more likely to be that the city's going to be attacked by a dragon or something. If that's what your warnings mean, we'll be ready for it and we'll fight it. Like we always do."

Yugi smiled, wiping his nose with his sleeve, and nodded gratefully.

"You always know what to say, Joey," he whispered.

"Gift of the gab," Joey said, winking.

That night, he set the Red-Eyes statuette on his chest of drawers, watching the ruby eyes glint in the moonlight from his window, and thought perhaps getting old wasn't so bad.


	3. The Bench Under the Peach Tree

Late July

Spring passed in a haze thanks to the wedding preparations keeping everyone busy as bees. Between suit-fittings, planning, location-viewings and work, Joey barely had any time for himself, save the odd moment of reflection as the seasons changed. A sprouting bud on a cherry tree here, a teenager in shorts and sunglasses there: the summer surprised everyone with its promptness. Time seemed to be passing faster with every year they aged.

They had the wedding on an afternoon, under the heavy, bright heat of the lamp-like sun. Evening was approaching like a warm blanket as Joey helped Téa from the car in front of the old town hall. Her dress was simple, and a luscious cream in colour, easy to walk in and light on her body. Her delicate veil hung low over her face, shimmering in the afternoon light, the soft breeze ruffling the petals on her bouquet. She moved like the dancer she once was in the summer sunshine, brilliant and bright.

From the backseat of the traditional black car swept Mai, closely followed by Joey's sister, radiant as jewels in their apricot dresses. They beamed when they saw him. Joey let go of Téa's arm for a few moments to cup Mai's face with gentle fingers. She smiled at him brightly and gave him a playful waft with her posy.

Just then, Tristan came bounding out of the hall through the huge, heavy oak doors. From inside came the faint hum of music, and the swell of voices in tranquil, anticipatory murmur. There were only a handful of guests; all their immediate families and some important types that Yugi knew would be offended had they been excluded.

Joey watched Tristan approach, looking queer, yet proud in his suit, and heard him say,

"It's time."

Mai gathered a handful of Téa's train, and Serenity hurried before them into the hall. Téa took a shuddering breath of warm, clear air. She clenched her bouquet as Joey carefully straightened her veil.

"Are you ready?" he said in a low voice, letting his fingers linger on her shoulder. Oh, how he loved her.

"As I'll ever be," Téa answered flatly, but beneath the veil her eyes were bright as stars.

With Joey on one side, and Tristan on the other, her little cousins ran forward as the music began to swell, giggling and groping in their handbaskets for fistfuls of soft petals. The three of them took five tremulous steps into the hall, and suddenly before them, stretched the aisle.

Joey felt Téa catch her breath beside him and heard himself whisper a breathy, " _Nice."_ The warm crimson carpet of the aisle unfurled before them like a ribbon of sunset on the sea, sweeping all the way to the front where it splashed out to form a circle on which stood a simple table adorned with blooming flowers. Beside, stood the ordinator, who regarded them with a blithe, welcoming smile. Flowers encircled the front, obscuring the wall behind, they were so thick. Roses, mostly, the colour of apricots, and white tulips and little dainty blue flowers, with sparkling dew drops. Lights capered across their petals like fairies in a garden. Before them, illuminated by the softness of the thousand tiny lights, stood Yugi. He looked grand in a tuxedo as deep blue as pre-dawn with a simple rose in his pocket. He was radiant with joy, and Joey from here could see the adoration that sparkled from his eyes and swelled his breast.

The music hit a crescendo. Serenity was ahead; pacing forward carefully so as not to trip on her dress. Beside Joey, Téa readied herself and her elbow tightened around Joey's arm.

"Let's go," he found himself saying.

And so they walked. Joey led the trio, not daring to look anywhere but forward, focusing on a half-bloomed rose that protruded wilfully from the bunch, lest his stinging eyes betray him if he looked any longer on the bride or groom. The faces watched them pass, some with tears in their eyes. Even Kaiba was demure in his seat, looking striking in a blue suit, his steady eye on the party passing his pew. Joey betrayed his lonely rose and risked a glance. The barest of smiles flitted over Kaiba's face and Joey felt his face heat.

Beside him, Isamu laid a hand on Kaiba's arm and whispered delicately into his ear. Kaiba's gaze was gone immediately and Joey whipped his eyes away, lest his prickling cheeks betray him.

They reached the front. Joey detached himself from Téa's grip and she turned to him, her eyes blown wide. Wordlessly, he pulled her into a crushing hug and before he parted, planted a warm kiss on her cheek through her veil.

"My make-up!" she hissed, but Joey could see clearly in the way she glowed, and the beautiful smile that lit up her face, that said she didn't really mind.

Tristan clapped Yugi on the shoulder and hugged Téa in turn, before departing them to stand beside Joey, but not before he had clasped a heavy hand on Joey's shoulder and stared him in the eye with a wordless warning, ' _I'm about to fucking bawl my eyes out, man.'_

Silently, Joey tugged a tissue from his pocket and handed it over. Tristan took it gratefully, blowing his nose with a loud honk.

"Dearly beloved," the ordinator began as Yugi and Téa came together before him at last. Yugi's face was alight with bliss. He took Téa's trembling fingers in both his strong hands and drew them close. The ordinator spoke on, but Joey hardly heard him, could only watch his two best friends in the world seal their bond, so completely in love that the purity of it was like untouched snow. Beside him, he heard Tristan blow his nose again.

Joey sought out the crowd, to see if they were as enamoured as he was. Most were: their close friends anyhow. Some of the older duellists were nodding off, although Joey supposed he could not blame them. It was balmy in the hall. The seats were reasonably comfortable and with all this love and joy in the air, how could one not be lulled into the safest slumber?

Sweeping across the seats, Joey's eyes once again alighted on Kaiba. He was sitting straight in his chair. Beside him on his left, Isamu was dabbing a lace-white kerchief to her swimming eyes. To his right, the bloated figure of an older man drooped heavily in his seat, head rolled back and practically snoring. Kaiba's eyes were on the couple at the front, but he seemed unfocused, detached. It was then Joey saw Kaiba's eyes roam, as if pulled by some unconquerable force, to land on Joey.

Their eyes met and lingered for the heaviest, longest moment. And then the strangest thing happened: Kaiba slowly took one long finger, and pointed first at Yugi and Téa, swathed in their bubble of infatuation, then at Tristan, honking into his tissue. Finally his eyes rested back upon Joey and he raised an eyebrow in a very clear question, tugging the corner of a white handkerchief in his breast pocket.

' _Are you going to cry, too?'_

Joey grinned, revelling in the secret display of friendship and understanding, He gave a tiny shrug, and his own raised eyebrows in response. _I might, who knows?_

As it happened, he remained composed, only shedding one small tear when Téa breathed her vows and Yugi started sobbing.

After the ceremony, Téa asked Joey to double-check the seating plan for dinner at the hotel. As he wandered over to the chart, he became sensible of a presence looming behind him. Expecting it to be Téa making sure he wasn't messing with the place-cards, he started when he saw Kaiba. Kaiba's suit sat crisp on his shoulders and his tie was patterned with something, although Joey could not bring himself to look long enough to see what it was.

"Held yourself together pretty well, then, Wheeler," Kaiba said, absently pretending to examine a place-card.

Joey grinned, patting his pocket full of tissues. "I'm tougher than you think, Kaiba," he said. He could feel Kaiba's careful blue eyes on his back and he fumbled helplessly with some of the cards as Kaiba spoke again.

"Being tough doesn't mean emotionless," said Kaiba wisely. "But I suppose you must be given credit for having some self-control, which arguably constitutes as strength. You have plenty of that, and I don't believe I've ever said otherwise."

"Wrong," snorted Joey, turning to observe Kaiba's expression. It was as blank as ever, but his eyes sparkled with good humour. "You've said tons of times how weak I am."

"I meant _physically_ ," Kaiba corrected.

"Yeah, 'cause that makes you not an asshole."

Joey picked up the card with Kaiba's name on, took a pen from his pocket and scribbled Kaiba's first name out with untidy lines, before scrawling ' _dickface'_ next to it as an addendum.

"There," he said, placing the card down with a flourish and dusting his hands with the air of a job well-done. "The place-cards are perfect. What do you think?"

Kaiba pressed a hand to his mouth in mock-thought, studying the placements. There was a smile tugging at the corners of his eyes.

"I think," he said, whipping Joey's card into his hand before Joey could stop him, "that this one is in the wrong place. _Children_ need to be at a children's table, don't you think?"

He selected a card at random from the collection of youngsters and examined it.

"This one is under ten years old, I assume? Perfect. Mentally he's _far_ older than this one." He swapped the cards, dropping Joey's precisely into place at the children's table. Joey snorted and simply swapped the cards back.

"Don't let Téa catch you doing that," he warned.

"Yes, because your change is so much more reversible," said Kaiba sarcastically.

"Whatever, Dickface K."

Joey turned to leave, still grinning. Kaiba stopped him with a tug on his arm.

"There is one change I'd like to make," he said. He picked up his own defaced name-card and Isamu's, swapping them deftly. Now the order went: Isamu K., Dickface K., Joey W. "To keep you away from her," he explained, but there was humour in his voice. Joey stared at the cards for a few moments, before turning away, a deep throbbing in his chest that he could only try to pretend wasn't there.

* * *

Dinner was absurd, Joey thought. Sandwiched between Kaiba and Tristan, there was the jovial back-slapping and drink-waving that came with the latter, in tandem with the reticent composure and carefully-considered mastication on his other side. It became an extraordinary experience when Kaiba downed his third glass of champagne and actually shot a bright smile in Joey's direction. Joey responded by blushing hotly and choking on his salmon.

Tristan of course gave him a jovial slap on the back.

After dinner, Yugi and Téa led the way to the waiting limo out the front of the hotel. Kaiba suddenly preceded them with a flourish and opened the door. As Yugi helped Téa into the backseat, Joey shot a quizzical look in Kaiba's direction.

"Where are we going?" Joey asked him when it was his turn to step inside.

"You'll see."

Joey squeezed in next to Téa, who was already giddy and rather flushed. Before him, Kaiba sat with his back to the driver, relaxed and in control, with one knee cocked casually over the other. He procured three bottles of champagne from under the seat and everybody cheered. Except for Joey, who was staring at him curiously.

Who knew Kaiba could be so carefree, with his long legs and genial smile; his hair tousled gently by the breeze from the parting in the window, his eyes sparkling with mirth? His long fingers twisted around the neck of the bottle he held and it burst open. Pink fizz tussled to the top and slipped down the sea-green glass in a foamy deluge.

Joey tried not to watch as Kaiba licked the foam off his fingers.

They pulled up at the mansion in the limo, quite a merry party already thanks to the three empty bottles of champagne. Kaiba alighted stiffly, holding a thin hand for Téa first, and in turn for his wife. They stood arm-in-arm beside the car, gazing off into the distance at something Joey could not see. He scrambled out after them and found himself gazing up in wonder at the sunset behind Kaiba mansion.

"So this is where you were taking us," he said to Kaiba, as the rest of his friends clambered out of the car and hooted in delight, helping the girls up the path in their cumbersome dresses. Téa was openly laughing and chastising Yugi playfully for not telling her. "You could have said something to me about it, you know."

"And have you blabbing to the bride?" said Kaiba with humour. "A risk I wasn't willing to take."

They waited for the others to walk a good way up the sprawling path before falling into step beside one another as they set off. Behind them, the car drove away with a crunch of tyres on gravel.

"Thanks for the ride," Joey said easily as they walked. Those glasses of champagne were doing wonders for his stiff tongue.

"It's no problem," Kaiba said peaceably. With their friends several feet ahead and no-one behind, it was like they were alone in the balmy twilight. The stars were just beginning to appear above the mansion, where its wide, sweeping storeys blotted out the light of the dying sun. The whole sky was a magnificent profusion of purple from the far horizon to where it melted into rose-pink behind the house. Behind them, the twinkling lights of Domino could be seen through a maze of hedges and tinkling fountains singing their aqueous melodies to the fading light.

"So is the spread here better than at your do?" Joey asked to break the quiet. Kaiba looked pained for a moment but then he made a non-committal motion with his shoulder as if to say, 'you'll have to see'.

They followed the wedding party up a set of smooth marble steps and into the grand entrance hall. The sight took Joey's breath away.

The enormous room was lit floor-to-ceiling from the great crystal chandelier above them, and thousands upon thousands of fairy lights. The smooth floor had been polished to a reflective shine, so that all the light bounced and made the guests glow. Glittering glass renditions of Duel Monsters lined every wall, sparkling like icicles on their plinths. White balloons filled the air and floor and somewhere above, a machine was raining iridescent bubbles on the enchanted crowd. Servers tiptoed through the throng, offering tiny bits of rolled fish and something leafy with pork, as well as trays and trays of champagne in golden flutes. A band stood on a raised dias to Joey's left, playing a hearty melody while a jolly man in a bright red tie sang of love.

Joey stepped over to a crystalised Dark Magician and gently touched his fingertips to the shimmering staff he brandished.

"Your Blue-Eyes gave me the idea," Kaiba admitted from somewhere behind him. Joey turned, to see Kaiba watching him with a soft, wry smile. "I had them commissioned especially. This is my gift to them."

"That's actually really cool of you," said Joey, patting the Magician's hooded head. "I can't believe how much you've done for Yugi and T."

Kaiba cleared his throat and turned away. Perhaps he would have blushed if Kaibas did that sort of thing. "He's an important business client."

"Of course," laughed Joey, knocking Kaiba playfully on the elbow. Kaiba cocked him a half-smile that crinkled at the corners of his eyes.

Just then, Isamu's sing-song laugh tinkled across the crowd. Both of them turned as she swept up to her husband and addressed Joey with a silk-gloved hand on Kaiba's arm.

"Quite a spectacle, isn't it," she crowed. "I daresay it's even better than at our wedding."

Kaiba looked knowingly at Joey and treated him to a delicate raise of his eyebrows. Joey couldn't help it, he laughed.

"It's incredible," he said truthfully.

Isamu answered with another warm chuckle and pressed a quick kiss to her husband's cheek before flitting away like an elegant bird.

"Gotta love her," said Joey, watching her retreat with a small wave. Kaiba sniffed beside him.

"Indeed," he said.

Kaiba's smile had fallen. He stared at the space that she had vacated with an unreadable look on his face. It was Joey's turn to clear his throat.

"I'm just gonna make sure Tristan isn't puking on the speaker system," he said by way of excusing himself.

"Yes," said Kaiba, snapping to. "Keep him off my carpets too."

"Sure thing, boss."

Joey hurried away, not daring to look back in case Kaiba was watching him. His skin felt warm and prickly all over.

He mingled, keeping as much distance between himself and Kaiba as possible. The crowd was extensive: duellists from all over the world with tips and ideas, as well as friends, old and new. He sat with Mai for some moments at the bar, enjoying her tinkling laugh at his oafish attempts at flirting. He knew nothing more could come of their relationship, but enjoyed the thrill of meaningless coquetry. She still looked amazing, full-breasted and with a slender waist, her long-blonde hair like shimmering strands of sunshine. The glittering ring on her left hand kept catching the light, so Joey decided to spare his eyes and made his escape.

Later, after doing a full circuit of the room and greeting as many heads as he could (including being on the receiving end of a flying hug from Téa, who was all ruffled frills and excitable laughs at this point) Joey slipped through the crowd with a whiskey in his hand in a glass as thick as a china mug. He was so concentrated on not spilling it that he did not realise whose chest he had bumped into.

"Wheeler," came the voice from on-high. Joey straightened up. That blush claimed his countenance immediately and glued his tongue to the roof of his mouth.

"Hnnurgh," he said intelligently. Kaiba raised his eyebrows.

"One too many of these?" he said cheekily, tapping the thick whiskey glass. "Surprised you of all people can't hold your drink."

"I could drink you under the table, moneybags," said Joey churlishly, finding his voice inside his coal-hot throat. It came out like his neck was on fire. "You ain't so tough."

Kaiba's face took on that molten, grateful aspect that sent waves broiling in Joey's belly of late. He took a swig of his whiskey and nearly spilt the lot down his tux. Kaiba lifted one delicate hand and placed it on the brim of Joey's glass, pressing down gently. Joey swallowed hard as the glass peeled from his lips.

He wished he could see Kaiba's face looking right at him but his throat was still searing from the whiskey and his eyes were misting over-

"Joey, I-"

Suddenly a hush fell over the crowd. Kaiba's head turned to the raised platform and Joey followed it as the lights went down. The band ceased to play and all was silent aside from the echoing tinkle of a hundred tiny forks tapping champagne flutes. A spotlight illuminated Téa and Yugi in the throng. It was time to dance.

The crowd backed away to allow space for a dancefloor. In the great heave and shuffle, Joey found himself separated from Kaiba, who was now standing side-by-side with Isamu, watching the floor. Her arm was entwined in his once more. Joey turned his back on them, headed to the bar, and set the whiskey glass down with a definitive press of his fist.

No matter how hard he blinked, Kaiba's thin, angled face swam before his watering eyes. He turned to watch the dance, fighting the urge to duck out of the hall.

In the circle of onlookers, Yugi took Téa's hand and spun her gently into the naked centre of the dancefloor. The music hummed into life; a sweet and sombre tune, crooning and romantic. After a few spins, couples began to filter into the floor. To Joey's automatic ire, Tristan offered a hand to Serenity, but then he saw her blush, and the gentle way Tristan led her. Mai was dancing with an esteemed traveller and powerful wielder of trap cards, presumably her fiancé. Marik was demurely waltzing his sister across the floor. They both moved as chastely and gracefully as swans on water.

Kaiba and Isamu had not moved. Isamu's eyes were downcast. She clearly did not expect to be asked to dance.

So let them do what they want, thought Joey bitterly, leaning on the bar with his back to them. He could walk away from them. He _should_ walk away from them, let them live this marriage out if that was what they wanted.

Looking back at Kaiba's stern face turned away from her, Joey felt himself bristle. With a great sigh, he downed a second shot of whiskey, and pardoned his way through the onlookers to approach Isamu.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked her.

She looked more than surprised. Joey refused to acknowledge Kaiba, who for all he knew was glaring at him from above. Joey said nothing more, ready to depart, even expecting a rebuttal, just brimming with the satisfaction of showing Kaiba what a rude man he was.

To his surprise, Isamu put a delicate hand in his, and allowed Joey to lead her out on the floor.

Ignoring the puzzled looks the crowd was beginning to shoot him, Joey took Isamu's slim waist into his hand, gently taking up her fingers in his other. She was beaming, showing a row of perfect teeth, her eyes bright and excited. She ended up leading, perhaps realising Joey was a hopeless dancer and had only taken her onto the floor just to prove a point. She did not seem to mind, and whirled him about with all the gusto of a woman fallen in love and carefree.

She was light as a feather, dream-like in movement. Joey watched the shimmer of her black hair as they moved below the lights, the twinkle of the diamonds on the loops about her swan-neck. Her skin was as smooth and supple as silk, flowing down to the curve of her breasts and the delicate sweep of her evening dress. Her eyes were warm and thick as honey.

Joey was drawn out of his spell by a sharp tap on his shoulder. He froze, and turned, seeing the foreboding frame of Kaiba towering close above. He reflexively drew Isamu behind him, fearing a scene, but Kaiba merely looked at him and said,

"May I cut in?"

Joey stared for a few seconds until Isamu poked him in the ribs with a soft finger.

"Oh, sure, sorry," he mumbled. He made to move away but before he got very far, Kaiba grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. Too shocked to protest, Joey stared as Kaiba took Isamu into his arms. Joey saw Kaiba whisper something to Isamu and she looked confused for a moment before nodding once, and planted a soft kiss to his lips. She gave Joey a genuine smile and drifted away to a handful of gentlemen who extended their arms politely.

Joey stared at Kaiba for a long moment, feeling as though he were trying to decipher a code that was only half-revealed to him. Kaiba seemed to take a deep breath, and then he drew close to Joey one hand extended forward,

"Well?" he said. "May I?"

"What?"

Joey was still confused. Kaiba helped him by taking his hand, and directing the other to his shoulder. Then Kaiba took a firm step back, and Joey had no choice but to follow, staring at the polish of Kaiba's shoes as if it would tell him what was going on.

"This is weird," Joey told Kaiba's shoes. "What are we doing?"

"Dancing," said Kaiba, and he led Joey around in a small circle to prove a point. Joey became sensible suddenly that people must be watching him, and he glanced at the crowd, feeling as though he had been caught doing something naughty, like pilfering from the cookie jar. Some were glaring with their brows furrowed, others looked pleased. Some were staring with open surprise. As he watched, two ladies in elegant suits smiled at him and followed their example onto the floor. A few other couples copied them, and soon the dancefloor was full again. Across the hall, Yugi gave him a delighted thumbs-up over Kaiba's shoulder.

"What about Isamu?" Joey asked, tearing his eyes from Yugi's grin to look for her. A lady in a long, satin dress was twirling her over by the bar.

"She's a dextrous woman," Kaiba said stepping to one side, and bringing Joey with him, so that their bodies were flush. Joey could smell the heady waft of Kaiba's delicate cologne. Kaiba's throat above him looked smooth as varnished wood, and hard like it. His neck was speckled with hair that he might have missed shaving, but only in hidden places, like the sharp curve of his jaw below his ear. The collar of his shirt was crisp as paper and the lapels were like a summer sky. The dark blue of his tie had a delicate, embroidered pattern, he noticed, and when he looked closer-

"Hah, dragons!" Joey exclaimed. Kaiba looked down in surprise. "I should have known."

"It's my best," he said unashamedly, but Joey wasn't listening.

If he had thought Isamu pretty, it was like seeing a remarkable ruby, and then Kaiba was like being shortly presented with a clear-cut diamond that dazzled your eyes with its vivacity. Kaiba's face was elongated, and strong as steel, his frown temperate but gentle in its slant, with two finely-curving brows. His mouth was soft as two petals pressed together, his jaw delicate and proud. His eyes were like the sky, with a fire that ripped across the lapis and carried you – a mere spark in all that flame – to their black, burning sun.

He was gorgeous.

Between their chests there was no space now, and Joey could feel every bump and line and press of Kaiba, from his heavy, solid ribs to the hard points of his belt.

"We had better stop," Joey whispered, his voice crackling with electricity that he could not control.

"Why?" Kaiba's voice was calm but he too spoke in a whisper and the electricity sparked about in his eyes instead.

"Because I can't think," said Joey.

He could not find the strength to move away.

Instead, he stayed, all but resting his forehead against Kaiba's chin. They were still swaying – barely – tipping in time to the music that sounded an awful lot like roaring in Joey's ears. Above him – could he have imagined it? – Kaiba took a deep breath through his nose, buried deep in Joey's hair, and Joey, through his haze and panic, could picture those eyes closed, with long lashes gracing the bottom, as he relished the scent of Joey, as Joey was relishing his.

"This is highly inappropriate."

Joey jumped back, startled out of his trance, feeling a hot blush hit his temples. Kaiba's arms and hands and chest were all gone in a flash and suddenly the ballroom was like a sauna.

Before him stood an elderly man, stout and short with a thin, groomed moustache and slicked, thinning hair that was nickel-grey in colour. He leaned heavily on a fine, black cane, and his amber eyes were rather familiar, though they were colder and flatter than Joey remembered. His sparse brows knitted over wire spectacles and on his fingers shone half a dozen gold rings. Joey recognised him as the man who had been nodding off in the chair next to Isamu's during the ceremony.

"Joey Wheeler," Kaiba was saying, "this is my father-in-law, Kenneth Crane. Mister Crane, this is Joey Wheeler, a good friend of myself and your daughter."

Joey took Crane's offered hand at a nod from Kaiba and felt his fingers be practically squashed in Crane's thick fist. His rings dug hard into Joey's hand, but Joey pretended not to feel a thing.

"Perhaps it's unwise," said Crane, his eyes only briefly drifting over Joey before ignoring him as if he were not there, "to leave such a beautiful wife alone in a room full of men and women, for so very long."

Kaiba stiffened and, reluctantly it seemed, his eyes sought Isamu, who did not look as if she were concerned about being left to her own devices at all. Indeed, she was in conversation with Mai at the bar, and the tinkle of her laughter could be heard even from this far, over the noise of the party. Kaiba glanced at Joey, and under the insistence of his father-in-law's poignant stare, straightened his tie and made a subtle bow to his wards.

"Then I take my leave," he said quietly. "Excuse me."

Joey watched him push his way through the crowd to his wife, and offer her his arm. She looked surprised for a moment, but then her eyes found her father and Joey, stood close together, watching, and took her husband's proffered arm with a gracious smile.

Crane watched them dance for a few moments, and Joey stood awkwardly by his side, unsure how to dismiss himself. Before them, Kaiba and Isamu stepped gracefully to the music, and Joey could not help but measure the inches between his body and hers. His chest tingled.

"Much better," said Crane suddenly, and Joey tore his eyes away. Crane was still not looking at him. "You'll forgive me, Wheeler," he said. It was not a question. "My son-in-law is stubborn, and determined to thwart me, I'm sure. You've known him long?"

"Uh, yeah," said Joey. "We went to school together."

"Certainly a long time then," ascertained Crane. "His father and I were friends, you know? I attended the funeral. Nasty business. Seto always seemed to know how to get what he wanted, however. Can't really fault a man for that."

"What do you mean?"

"He hasn't told you?" Crane regarded Joey carefully. "Perhaps you aren't as close as I assumed."

"Told me what?"

"The matter regarding his father's death," said Crane. He began to dig in his pockets with one ring-laden finger. He withdrew a pouch of cigars with some difficulty as the pocket was tight against his stout belly. "It was a suicide, you know. Like I said: nasty business. And then Kaiba was suddenly instated as the new head of company." He popped the end of a cigar into his mouth and offered one to Joey, who unsure what constituted as polite in this company, took one with shaky thanks. "Not that I'm saying he had anything to do with it of course, but it's clear the boy had an agenda. Started buying out land. We thought perhaps he was mad, you know, soft in the head from the death of his father, but now…" He paused, leaning heavily on his cane. "He's a hundred times wealthier than Gozaburo ever was. And more to him."

Joey stared at Crane, but unable to detect hint of a lie, merely swallowed and let his gaze drift back to Kaiba, twirling his wife gently with one hand, as if the world had disappeared.

"His dad killed himself?"

"In a manner of speaking, but no matter now. It's all in the past. Only the future to look forward to, and my grandchild!"

It was as if the Earth had stopped spinning, and the music fallen away. Joey gripped the cigar in his hand, desperate for something to steady him, pinion him to the planet.

"Your what?"

"Yes, they're expecting," said Crane delightedly. "I await the announcement any day now. But come, Wheeler, you're adequate company and I've someone I'd like you to meet. Come, come!"

Joey followed Crane as if in a stupor. He examined Isamu as they walked passed, eyeing the planes of her belly through her long, draping dress. Could she really be pregnant? Not judging by looks alone, her belly was flat as a moor. Joey's eyes drifted up to her face. She was gazing lovingly at Kaiba, tangled in his embrace, her long arms entwined about his neck as they swayed. Joey tore himself away quickly, dashing after Crane, who wobbled on ahead on his stick, and hoped that there would not be a chance for him to be alone with Kaiba for the rest of the night.

"Come, Mr Wheeler, come, come!"

Joey jogged to the terrace, through a set of elegant lattice French doors. Outside was balmy; darkness had just settled, bringing a cool night-time. The stars could be seen clearly, glinting like a thousand eyes in the brilliant sweep of the night sky. Below that was a row of enormous leafy hedges, sequestering them in the privacy of the gardens, which twinkled with lights and swelled with the sound of clinking glasses and hearty laughter. Before Joey stood Crane, waving him over with a meaty fist.

"Joey, this is Iqbal Niazi," he said, gesturing to a tall, well-built man of about thirty. His dark hair was cropped and he wore a light suit that accentuated the warm tones of his skin. He wore a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles and white gloves on his thin fingers. Joey took his hand to find he had a firm shake. "He recently returned from Egypt on a rather important dig, right Iqbal?"

"Something like that," Niazi agreed with a chuckle. "I take it you like Egypt, Joey, or else Kenneth wouldn't have referred you to me?"

"I've been there," said Joey nonchalantly. "I have friends there."

"Oh, really? You aren't in business?"

"Wheeler's a friend of my son-in-law's," said Crane, grabbing Joey's hand. Joey was startled until he realised Crane was pressing a lighter into it. Nervously, he lit the cigar in his hand, feeling Crane's grin laid on him through a haze of putrid grey smoke.

"Oh. So you're a Duellist?" Niazi was saying.

"Yeah," said Joey, supressing a cough. The cigar tasted foul. "We went to school together."

"Ah, how fascinating," Niazi said with raised brows. "Was he an amiable schoolfellow?"

"To be honest, he was a bit of a jerk." Joey's eyes were watering, and he looked around for a drink. A waiter sauntered over with a tray of glasses. Joey took one and swigged it, only to learn very quickly that it was champagne. In order to hide the fact that his throat was on fire, he asked Niazi how the dig went.

"Oh, good really," he replied brightly, seeming not to notice how gravelly Joey's voice had become. "We were sent to a site near the ruined town of Kul Elna, you know. It's a lonely place, really. They say it was destroyed during some great attack by a monster of some kind, if you believe that sort of thing. The tomb itself was collapsed, as well. We were digging for about two weeks when we found something. Marvellously preserved, like they'd only just been used: jewellery of some kind. Fascinating. Oh, are you alright?"

Joey realised he must have gone a funny colour.

"Yeah," he said, lifting his glass. "Just had too much of this, I reckon. Nice to meet you. I'm going to get some air."

He wobbled away, wondering where he had heard the name 'Kul Elna' before.

And so it was that Joey found himself drifting through familiar territory. The glass in his hand sparkled with the dregs of champagne and the taste of it tingled on his tongue. He made his way through the gardens, passing tall, trimmed hedges that looked midnight-blue in the shadows, and between them he caught glimpses of marble statues and delicate, tinkling fountains in the shape of – what else? – dragons. He passed through a laurel of hedgerows, under twisting honeysuckle and ivy, with blooming white roses before him paralleling a stone path the colour of sand. He strolled onwards, not really knowing where he was headed, trusting his feet to take him there, until he came across a small gilt loveseat, underneath a familiar fruit-tree in a secluded corner. When Joey stepped closer, he could see the ripening bodies of heavy, white peaches.

Joey stared for a moment, calculating how many years it had been since he last sat here, drunk and alone, and unwanted, to rest his tired soul in the shade of a tree in Kaiba's garden.

He sank onto the bench, allowing his muscles to unclench and spread out like melting butter. It had to be close to midnight and he was exhausted. An owl hooted solemnly somewhere behind him, the noise muffled by hedges and the faint thrum of music and conversation from the mansion. Joey raised his glass with one arm that felt heavy as lead. He enjoyed the way the glass warped the walls of the house, blooming and convex with the curves of the liquid. It was so grand, the colour of the moon and almost as beautiful, with staircases and turrets and rafters that gleamed in her light. Within it contained all of his friends and family – everyone he held dear, and he closed his other hand over it as if to hold them safe.

"To Yugi, and Téa," he whispered to himself. "To however long we have left." And he downed the rest of his glass.

He did not know how long he sat there. The music changed a handful of times, and the owl behind him began to hoot more frequently as the night wore on. There was a gentle summer breeze running its fingers through Joey's hair, cooling his hot temperament and soothing his brow. The bench was hard, digging into his back, but with the lull of the music and the warmth of the evening, he thought he might sleep anyway.

"There you are."

A voice startled him back into consciousness. The glass almost slipped from his hand but he caught it was trembling fingers and drew it close to his chest as Kaiba slipped into view. He looked as he had when Joey had last seen him, drawn up and stern, his suit immaculate. He looked a little flushed, but not drunk, and he had one hand casually resting in his trouser pocket.

"Not again," murmured Joey. He grimaced, but shifted up so that there was space for Kaiba to sit. He did so slowly, taking in Joey's dishevelled shirt and empty glass.

"I thought I might find you here," said Kaiba. Joey shrugged, rolling the flute slowly between his palms and refusing to meet Kaiba's eye. "I'm sorry for what Kenneth said."

"Who?"

"Isamu's father."

"Oh, it's not a big deal," Joey mumbled, peering into the dregs of the glass as if they might tell him what to say. "He's a bit weird but we got on alright."

"That's good to hear."

"He said something about you actually," Joey added, feeling his face flush and his hands began to tremble, so he gripped the glass firmly. "About you and Isamu."

"Oh?" Joey could not help but think Kaiba's calm voice was a careful mask. He had gone motionless.

"He said that you and Isamu are going to have a baby," Joey said quickly to hide the quiver in his voice. "Congratulations! I remember you asking me about it. I didn't know it was because you were planning to have one."

Kaiba was utterly silent. He was staring ahead, his eyes unblinking and his face pale under the light of the moon. His thin hands rested on his knees, fingers tight and knuckles white as paper.

"He told you that?" Kaiba whispered. Joey shifted uncomfortably.

"Yeah, um, sorry if it was meant to be a secret," he said hurriedly. "I won't tell anyone, I swear, I just wanted to say something to you because, because…"

He could not think of a good reason. Kaiba's hands were rapidly curling into fists. He shut his eyes tight for a moment and Joey watched with great concern.

"It's best if you don't say anything to anyone," he said. Joey could not see his eyes, closed tight as they were, and he wondered if they were as hard and cold as his father-in-law's. "Nothing is official."

"Right." So it was true. Joey fought to ignore the agonizing sensation in the pit of his stomach that felt as though a thousand snakes had all curled into a ball and were tussling and biting and writhing within him. "Well, for what it's worth-"

"Yeah, thanks." Kaiba's voice was deadpan.

"You could sound a little happier about it," teased Joey, but to his chagrin, Kaiba looked downcast and murderous.

"Don't tell me how to feel, mutt," he barked, and swept to his feet. Enraged, Joey grabbed a fistful of his suit and dragged him back down. He landed ungracefully, long legs in the air.

"Give it a _rest_ ," Joey barked, leaning over Kaiba, who was still lying stunned, sprawled out over the iron bench, not having quite registered why he could suddenly count the stars. "This is supposed to be a _good_ night, you know. I'm drunk as fuck right now, and I know I'm not supposed to say it but, _fuck it_. You've been driving me crazy with all the flirting and the dancing. _And_ I was having a nice time here by myself and you showed up and I just wanted to say congrats about the baby thing. No need to be such a fucking _asshole_ about everything. You were so great earlier and now you're like this again. Can't you stop flip-flopping and just make up your fucking mind?"

Kaiba stared. Joey watched the stars sparkle in his pupils.

"You want me to choose," Kaiba said hoarsely.

"You don't have to choose anything," Joey grunted, sitting back. "Just pick whether you like me or not. I'm too old for all this see-saw bullshit."

"I can't just do away with it," Kaiba said absently. He had pushed himself into a sitting position and was facing Joey, one arm along the back of the bench. It encapsulated at least one of Joey's shoulders. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Good to know, then, maybe we should-"

Kaiba suddenly surged sideways on the bench, knocking the glass from Joey's hand. It tinkled to the ground – despite him shooting out a leg to catch it – and shattered on the stones.

"You moron, you did that last time as-"

Joey was cut off as Kaiba scooped his face up with one hand, whilst the other behind him, snatched up his far shoulder and slid him along the bench against Kaiba's chest. There was barely enough time for Joey to splutter, "What-" before Kaiba had shoved his tongue into Joey's mouth.

Startled, Joey seized up. Kaiba's tongue stung with the acrid taste of alcohol and cigarettes, his hand a vice in Joey's hair. His mouth stretched hungrily, like a snake choking its prey. Joey felt trapped, his shoulders taut, squeezed by Kaiba's strong arm, his hands curling into Kaiba's jacket. He gasped as Kaiba's hand left his hair and cupped the front of his trousers.

How unfair. How tempting it was to acquiesce. To curl his fists into Kaiba's hair; wrap his arms around Kaiba's shoulders and hang on as Kaiba took him there on the bench. His heart beat faster than a hummingbird's in his chest, and all he could smell was peaches.

Isamu swam into view behind his eyelids, her face thick with tears.

With great effort, Joey screwed up his eyes, finally finding strength in both arms to grapple Kaiba's shoulders and heave him off. Kaiba was so heavy. His eyes were unfocused as he trailed his fingers down Joey's chest and slipped into the maw of his fly, fumbling on the zipper.

Joey laughed nervously, catching Kaiba's wandering hand and sealing it away in his fist.

"Real funny, Kaiba," he said, feigning humour. "But you can't go doing shit like that. I'm not playing gay chicken with a married dude when his wife's God-knows where."

Kaiba said nothing, gazing at Joey with lidded eyes. He seized the small of Joey's back and used the leverage to slide himself closer, desperately shortening the gap between his face and Joey's. He ripped his hand free and grabbed Joey's collar, pulling him forward once more…

Joey had never felt so conflicted. The warmth of the evening; the beautiful, nebulous shapes in Kaiba's royal eyes, his mouth hanging open softly in desperation; the heavy, sweet air, scented with peaches. Kaiba's weight was warm, but he was so heavy, each bone as though laden with lead from joint to joint. His troubles weighed as much as the world, and he would give it to Joey, had he the chance. With his lips brushing Joey's – wet as wild flowers in the morning dew – it looked as though he would get his wish. Before Joey let his eyes close, come what may, the strong scent of Kaiba's cologne thick in his nose, he caught a glimpse of the gardens behind him, and above, the black sky, dotted with a million stars like a blanket of lights. The heavens glittered upon them, bearing down on Kaiba's back like a ton of bricks, and Joey knew that what Kaiba carried was far too heavy for Joey to lift.

So with a gargantuan effort, he pushed Kaiba away, straightening his arms as stiff as blocks and shooting Kaiba with a furious look, straight in his eye with a force he hoped was as agonising as a strike.

"Quit it, asshole," he said firmly. "Don't fuck with me. You have _responsibilities_ , and so do I. You think you can just pull this shit and everything will be fine? You're married, you have a _kid_ on the way. I'm not letting you jeopardise what you have for the sake of some stupid one-up game. Getting the better of me can't be worth that, so grow up."

He got to his feet, shaking badly. Kaiba remained exactly where he left him, slumped sideways on the bench, his hair drifting into his eyes as if to hide them. He was not looking at Joey.

"I'm going now," said Joey, whirling about to leave. "Don't follow me."

"Joey…"

The voice came from somewhere behind him and it took everything in Joey not to turn around and run back. He could picture Kaiba's face, torn in sorrow, furious at himself and Joey's unwillingness to play along. He strengthened his resolve and though he spoke with a flat calm, he thought that inside, he could feel his heart breaking.

"I don't think we should be around each other anymore," he whispered, a soft breeze ruffling his hair, and carrying the scent of peaches and Kaiba's cologne far away. He felt his head clear a little. "You can't let it go, can you, moneybags? I thought we were gonna try and get along. For both our sakes and the guys we care about." He felt his fear and confusion be replaced with anger. "You know something? I watched the people I love most in the world make the biggest sacrifices for other people, people they didn't even _know_ , and you can't even just drop some random high-school bullshit long enough to realise that you're gonna fuck up the people you say that you care about. Well, I ain't having it. This is it now. Let's agree not to bother.

"Thanks for the party."

Leaving Kaiba still as bones on the bench, and the perfect, sweet-scented fronds of the garden wafting gently as if stroked by caressing fingers, Joey let his feet carry him past the party, and out onto the road to call a taxi to take him home.

* * *

The next morning, Joey awoke with a bad taste in his mouth.

He dragged himself sluggishly from the bed and slumped into the bathroom, examining the shadow on his jaw and the heavy bags under his eyes. It was past eleven; Yugi and Téa would have already left for their honeymoon. A week of duelling and sunshine. Sounded like heaven. Meanwhile, Joey brushed his teeth in the quiet warmth of a city morning.

After washing the taste of alcohol and cigars off his tongue, Joey scrubbed the smell from himself in the shower and collapsed back into bed, drawing the covers up to his damp chin. He scrolled absently through his cell phone, pleased to see that Yugi's wedding had made big news.

The wedding. Joey groaned, rubbing his hands through his wet hair. The feel of Kaiba's body pressed hard against him, his tongue thick as glue in Joey's mouth. Joey shuddered, running his hand across his chest where Kaiba's weight still burned, his lips that refused to stop tingling. The guilt made him feel sick, so he distracted himself with thoughts of the rest of the evening.

The only part of the night that did not aggravate the bad taste in his mouth was his conversation with Iqbal Niazi. Suddenly the words _Kul Elna_ floated through his mind, with a gentle Pakistani accent. Where had he heard that before? He closed his eyes and there was sweeping desert, hot sand stinging his face, and the crumbling ruins of a once great city…

Suddenly, Joey sat bolt upright in his bed. He threw the covers off, grabbed a pair of jeans from the floor and scrambled to the door, flinging a shirt on over his flyaway hair. He had to get to the museum.

The museum stood on the outskirts of the city centre: a long, squat building with sprawling gardens and heavy white pillars out front. Joey paid the parking fee and threw himself from the car, hurrying up the white stone steps to the front entrance. Once inside, he followed the delicate, embossed signs to the wing on Ancient Egypt. Great stones marked with hieroglyphics rose up on either side, heavy and foreboding. Caskets in cases lay silent beside delicate golden pots and embalming tools protected by glass panes. Joey hurried through it all, until he finally spotted Ishizu, staring at a display before her with glazed eyes and an outstretched hand.

"Ishizu!" cried Joey, skidding to a halt at her feet. She did not even look surprised to see him there. "At the party, a man I was talking to, he said that they had found a temple in Egypt." He repeated everything Isamu's father's friend had said, barely pausing for breath. Ishizu gave him her calm attention until he suddenly stopped.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Joey said. "That's why you came back."

Ishizu laid a gentle hand on Joey's arm. "Come," she said, and preceded him into the bowels of the museum.

Several rooms in, they stood before a glass case embedded in a recess in the wall. On a plinth of stone, each tucked into its own carefully-shaped slot, were the millennium items. In the centre sat the puzzle, completed as it had been the last time Joey had seen it, glittering in the light from the hot bulbs that kept the pieces in a permanent state of illumination.

"Not gone," whispered Joey. "Just buried."

He touched the glass gently, as if he was feeling for the long-lost hum of power. None came.

"They are just shells, now," said Ishizu, following the trace of Joey's thoughts. "I know not what to make of it."

"Yeah," Joey said, pulling himself away. "They should have left them where they were. It's where they were meant to stay forever. They don't belong here."

"They are a piece of Domino's history now," said Ishizu, gesturing to the right. Joey looked, and saw, framed on the wall beside the display: a picture of Yugi – no, the Pharaoh – in the middle of a match, Duel-Disk on his arm and a card in his hand. On his chest, was the puzzle, glowing as bright as a star.

"This is wrong," said Joey. "Egypt was meant to be his resting place. This is…" he gestured about him, searching for words, "…it's like desecration or something. Might as well have dug up his bones."

Ishizu said nothing, closing her eyes and touching her clavicle with a steady hand. Joey sighed and thanked her for showing him. Before he left, he turned to her and said,

"Maybe best if we don't tell Yug for now. I think it'll upset him."

"You can't shield your friend from the truth forever, Joey," said Ishizu gently. "He has a right to know."

"Yeah, he will but just… not now. He's just got married and he's happy and…" he trailed off. "I think it's the right thing to do."

"You are loyal, Joey," she said. "Perhaps to a fault."

"I just want my friends to be happy. Is that so bad?"

Ishizu turned her back on him, facing the collection of artefacts, relics of both their pasts. She said nothing more, and Joey took that as his cue to leave.


	4. Wavering

November 11th

Autumn breezed in with a scattering of golden leaves down the boulevards of Domino city. The sky shifted from baby blue to gold and purple. The clouds darkened daily, occasionally opening to smatter Domino's citizens with cold showers that soaked them through to the bone, or blow their jackets open with wild November winds. Joey donned bigger coats as the nights wore on and the days shortened, until it was undeniably dark and frigid by the time he left the school at the end of the day.

One particularly cold morning, sitting in his car, waiting for the heating to kick in and melt the ice that was building on the windscreen, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Tugging it free, he saw the caller ID had been hidden. With curiosity, he pulled his thick gloves off with his teeth and accepted the call.

"Hello?"

"Joey?" The voice on the other end was all-too familiar. Joey bristled. His heart picked up.

"Kaiba, look I told you not to contact me-"

"No, Joey, it's me, Mokuba."

Surprise hit Joey like a slap. "Oh, hey, squirt, what's up?"

"Actually, I needed to talk to you," Mokuba said, and Joey all at once could suddenly hear the panic in his voice. "It's urgent. Can you talk now?"

Joey checked his watch. He was running late and needed to be at the school soon. The ice on the window was rapidly defrosting. He did not have time at all.

"Yeah, sure, what's up?"

"It's about Seto," said Mokuba immediately. "He's been missing for a while. At first we weren't worried but it's been so long and we haven't heard anything. See, there's nothing he won't tell me about and my big brother _never_ takes holidays." Mokuba stopped himself, catching his breath. "Look, we can't tell anyone because the last time this happened, we almost lost the company. They don't trust me to run it on my own."

Joey swallowed as Mokuba paused, worry twisting in his gut like a wrung towel. "What about Isamu?" he asked eventually. "Is she okay?"

"Oh, she's been great," said Mokuba. "She's worried sick, of course, but she's brilliant with the company. I had no idea she was such a business-head. She's kept most of it going since Seto's been away."

"Right," said Joey.

"He disappeared after the wedding," Mokuba continued, "and I saw on the cameras he followed you into the gardens that night. Did anything happen? Did he say that he was going somewhere? No-one saw him after that, and he knows all the camera's blind spots so it seems he slipped away."

Joey felt his heart sink in his chest. That was months ago, so that meant Kaiba had been missing for a long time.

"Well, we had a bit of a fight," Joey admitted. "I told him we'd be better off not seeing each other. Only because we argue so much and it was gonna cause problems," he added quickly. "I didn't think he'd take it that personally."

"So you haven't heard from him?" said Mokuba, dejectedly.

"No, sorry, kiddo. You sure he hasn't like, shut himself up in his office, or something?"

"No, we've been checking, but it's always deserted. We locked it up after this morning. The only people who have the key are myself, Seto and his secretary, but she's away on holiday right now. I'd rather not keep going in there. It's super eerie."

"I can see that," said Joey. The office, full of remnants of his brother would be hard to enter if the results were always disappointing. "But sorry, I haven't heard from him. And he never gave me his number."

"Okay, no problem. I'll try Yugi next. I just can't risk this getting out so my options are limited."

"I get it, don't worry," said Joey. "Look, can you give me a number I can reach you on in case I hear or find something? I'm not going through the call centre again. Biggest farce of my life."

Despite his low mood, Mokuba laughed, and dictated a number for Joey to write down, which he did on his opposite arm, phone tucked under his chin.

"Don't worry, kiddo," said Joey when Mokuba was done. "We'll find him."

"I hope so, Joey."

Joey was late to work, but managed to escape with only a word of warning. He spent most of the morning chasing up paperwork that should have been completed before the school day started, and became engaged in an altercation during lunch hour when a bigger boy had tried to pinch a small boy's Buster Blader card. Having left his phone in the office drawer, the disappearance of the eldest Kaiba brother had been quite forgotten about by home-time.

A week went by in the same manner, with no more news. It wasn't until the following Wednesday that anything unusual happened.

When he eased into his car in the darkening car park at the end of a busy day, Joey munched a candy bar with one hand and flicked through notifications on his phone with the other. He had a text from an unknown number.

It simply read,

' _Office.'_

Joey stared at it with a frown. He wondered if he had left something behind, and one of his fellow teachers had sent him the cryptic message as a reminder, but a quick search through his belongings revealed that nothing was forgotten; his deck was secure in its pouch, and his compactable Duel Disk lay dormant in the bottom of his rucksack, standby light glowing softly in the dark canvas confines. Joey puzzled over the message for a moment longer, until another followed it.

' _Please.'_

Joey was decidedly unsettled. He cycled through his last week, thinking of the conversations he had started or been subjected to, until,

" _You sure he hasn't like, shut himself up in his office, or something?"_

" _No, we've been checking, but it's always deserted. We locked it up after this morning. The only people who have the key are myself, Seto and his secretary."_

Joey threw his phone onto the front seat beside him and started the car as fast as he could. It shuddered into life and he backed quickly from the car park, speeding onto the road and out towards the city. The cars and grassy sides of the main road zipped past as he took the lanes unorthodoxly fast, thinking only of reaching the KaibaCorp building with as much haste as possible. He wasn't sure why, but something told him he needed to hurry.

In the town, the cars were moving as slow as tortoises in the afternoon rush hour, so he snatched up his phone and reverse dialled the number from the texts.

There was no response. Cursing, Joey tried the number that Mokuba left him, squinting at the barely-legible digits on his arm.

"You've reached Mokuba Kaiba, please leave a message with your contacts details and my brother and I will get back to you as soon as we can."

"Hey, Mokuba, it's Joe," Joey fumbled, jerking forward in the traffic. "Listen, I just got a text. I think it's from your brother, but I'm not sure. I'm going to check, but I'm just letting you know in case anything happens. I'm heading to your brother's building. I'll call you again if I find anything."

He hung up, feeling frantic and helpless. The traffic crept forward and he cursed, for once joining in the cacophony of papping horns.

After what felt like a lifetime, he finally pulled into the KaibaCorp carpark. The attendee took his name with a raised eyebrow, checking him on a clipboard, and sent him to a spot in a corner, where he pulled in with a screech of the brakes, and a shudder of the engine. The attendee gave him a curious look as he scrambled from the seat without so much as a glance back, and made a beeline for the ramp up to the building.

Inside, the security grabbed him and whirled him about face. Upon a closer look, released him and said he was clear to proceed. They handed him a key-card and a name badge, saying that Mokuba Kaiba would see him as soon as he was able, being away on a meeting this afternoon. Joey asked if he was allowed to wait upstairs, but the security guard had already turned away.

He ran for the elevator at the opposite end of the foyer, ignoring the people left and right who shot him furtive looks as he dashed past. He used the key-card to access the lift, and endured the long, upwards climb to the highest floor. On his way up, he checked his phone again. The signal was no good here, and he had no new messages from the mysterious number. His heart hammering in his chest, he leaned against the cold wall of the elevator and hoped Mokuba would contact him soon.

Even if he found Kaiba, what was he supposed to say?

Before he could come up with an answer, the elevator pinged politely and the doors slid open. The reception area was deserted: the long, mahogany desk like a blue crescent moon before him in the low light. All was silent. The same thick-leaved plant brushed his sleeve with its jade fronds as he crept close to the large, wooden doors, unsteadily placing a hand on the ice-cold brass of the door handle. The handle slid down with no resistance. Steeling himself with a long breath, he pushed the door open.

"Kaiba?"

The room was as silent as death and dark as a tomb. The only way to see was from the light that spilled from the reception into the office; the slit of yellow like a torch-beam, stretching onward in an arrow-like aisle and falling on a strangely disfigured chair by the window.

"Kaiba? Are you in there?"

Joey slipped inside, still feeling as though he were entering a place of mourning. He reached blindly for the switch and flicked it a few times but nothing happened. All remained smothered in oppressive darkness. The few lamps he could see from his position had been completely smashed, as if a heavy object had been hurled at them in fury. The floor was littered with dropped tomes and broken glass.

"Kaiba, I'm coming in."

Joey closed the door softly behind him. The office fell into complete darkness and a deep hush surrounded him, as if he had suddenly been pressed into the bottom of the ocean. Not even the rumbling from the traffic below could permeate the quiet. Joey tiptoed forward, towards the strange shape. As his eyes adjusted, he could see it again, blotting out the pinpricks of light from the cityscape in a mass, about waist-height, vaguely squarish with a round ball on top. Joey came closer, his feet making no noise on the thick carpet. He reached out to touch the shape.

It moved. Joey froze, his heart thudding so hard it shook him from head to toe. He looked closer, and now he could be sure it was Kaiba; the familiar shape of his head, those slanted, thin shoulders and tufts of chestnut hair. Joey scrambled forward, grasping for Kaiba's frame in the dark.

"Kaiba!"

Kaiba did not respond as Joey surged around the chair to face him. His foot caught on something heavy and solid sticking out of the side of the chair and he almost fell. Feeling around Kaiba's legs, he realised it was the spokes of large, metal wheel. Kaiba was in a wheelchair.

"What the fuck?" Joey gasped, gripping Kaiba's shoulders and then frantically releasing them again for fear of injury. "Kaiba, talk to me, what happened? Have you spoken to Mokuba, yet? Does he know you're back?"

Kaiba's face, now that Joey could see it, was ghostly pale. The sickly yellow moon made him look especially pallid, like how Joey imagined a vampire might be. The circles under his eyes were the colour of a stormy sky, his skin like old porridge. Every age-line was like a crevice in his face, dark as a pit. He looked about a hundred. His eyes were rolling back, exposing the sickly white of his sclera.

"Yu…gi," he murmured, his voice as hoarse as if he had not tasted water in months.

"No, pal, no, no" Joey whispered, frantically pressing Kaiba all over in search of wounds or broken bones. He was skeletal, but otherwise uninjured. "I'm _Joey._ Joey, remember? Stupid amateur mutt, right? You gotta stay with me, man."

"No," whispered Kaiba, catching Joey's face in cold hands. "Bring me… Yugi…"

If he was well enough to be making demands, Kaiba was in enough health to know what he needed. Joey nodded once, and rose to his feet, digging his phone from his jeans, but not taking his eyes off Kaiba, whose head had lolled to the side, exhausted from his exertion.

"Joey?" Yugi's deep voice came through clear on the phone. He sounded as anxious as Joey felt. "This is about Kaiba isn't it? I could tell. Did you find him?"

"Yeah, I found him, he's in his office, but he's… ill or something." Joey rested a protective hand on Kaiba's bony shoulder as he spoke and Kaiba made no move to reject it. "I need you to come here, now. He's asking to see you."

"Me? Why me?"

"I don't know," Joey panicked. "He's really ill. Please just come."

"Of course, Joe, I'll be there as fast as I can."

The line went dead. Joey knelt before Kaiba and tried to encourage him to look at him.

"Kaiba, can you hear me?" he asked clearly. Kaiba somehow managed to glare daggers at him despite appearing to be on the brink of death. "Alright, just checking. I'm gonna try to call Mokuba, okay? I need to let him know I found you. Then I'm gonna get you water and call an ambulance. You still with me?"

Kaiba heaved a breath and made a little spasm of his head that Joey took for a nod.

"Great. Don't… don't wheel off anywhere," he said as he left, and thought he might have heard a small choked laugh follow in his wake.

* * *

Joey poured some clear, cool water from a fountain into a little blue plastic cup that he found in the reception area and hurried back to Kaiba. Mokuba had been quick to answer the phone, saying that he had been about to ring Joey as he had just been set free from work.

"Had he found him? Was he alright?" Mokuba had demanded ferociously.

"He was in the office," Joey had told him, "but could Mokuba come as soon as possible, because something was definitely wrong."

Mokuba had assured Joey that he would be there as fast as possible and hung up, barking instructions to his driver.

Joey knelt before Kaiba in the darkness, pressing the cool cup of water into his hand. He was too weak to hold it, so Joey lifted his head for him and poured gentle trickles past his withering lips. It seemed to return some of Kaiba's strength, so he fetched another, and repeated the process.

"I'm surprised you came," Kaiba said hoarsely after his second cup. He worked to shift himself into a better sitting position. Joey moved back to give him some space, setting the empty cup on the floor. "Took your time."

For the first time, Joey noticed Kaiba's phone held loosely in his hand, and he pried it carefully from Kaiba's chilled fingers. It was dead, so Kaiba must have sent that text with the last of its power.

"Jeez, couldn't even keep your phone charged," Joey grunted, setting it next to the cup and dropping onto his haunches beside Kaiba. In the distance, he could hear the growing sirens of an ambulance approaching. "If you're gonna pull a disappearance on us, at least make it so we can reach you, for fuck's sake."

"Sort of defeats the point of disappearing, doesn't it?" remarked Kaiba quietly. "Besides, it was charged until today. I… didn't see the point after I messaged you. If you didn't come."

"But then how would we find you?" Joey argued, wrapping his arms around his knees. "Mokuba's a wreck and your wife is worried sick. What if your phone had died before I came here, huh? You're white as a ghost. Jeez, here."

Cursing himself for not thinking of it before, he dropped his jacket from his shoulders and tucked it around Kaiba's torso, ignoring his protestations. Their faces were so close that Joey could feel Kaiba's ragged puffs of breath on his forehead. He looked up. Kaiba lifted a weary hand to trace the planes of his cheek as Joey met his eyes. They were more alive now, the familiar sparkle seeping back as colour returned to his skin. He held Joey's gaze, his mouth loose, his breath hot and fast on Joey's nose.

"You would have found me," Kaiba whispered, stroking Joey's cheekbone with his thumb. Joey tugged the hand away, forcing it close to Kaiba's chest. "Even if I hadn't messaged you." He looked so small and powerless below Joey. Frail as a withered corpse, his wrist so thin it was like bracken. Joey gripped the edges of the chair on either side and bore down upon him.

"How?" Joey demanded, giving the chair a little shake in his vexation. Kaiba wobbled, which made him grin sleepily. "How was I supposed to find you?"

"Power of friendship, or some other bullshit you and your dweeb pals like to babble about," Kaiba sighed with a tiny shrug. Outside the door, Joey could hear voices in the stairwell and the ping of the elevator.

"That's nuts. You're not thinking right, you're-"

He was cut short as Kaiba lifted his head slowly, with great effort, and gently pressed his lips to Joey's in a dry, chaste kiss. Joey felt his eyes close for a brief second. Kaiba's lips were like cotton, thin, soft and frail. He felt his arms twitch involuntarily as if to cocoon Kaiba in the sanctuary of his embrace, and let them both rest for the remainder of the night.

Instead, Kaiba pulled away as bodies poured into the office. Joey opened his eyes, raising his arm as torch-beams broke the darkness, blinding him. Hands were on his shoulders - Mokuba's - pulling him to one side as Yugi and several paramedics swarmed about Kaiba, blocking him from view. He could hear the deep, reassuring tones of Yugi's voice and a warmth spread throughout the room, pushing away the darkness, healing the sorrow that sequestered in every dank corner.

Mokuba steered Joey into the reception area, where Isamu stood with a tall bodyguard, wringing her hands, her face ashen.

"Oh, Joey," she cried, hurrying to them and embracing them both. "Mokuba! Is he okay? What happened?"

"He'll be alright," said Mokuba, his face pale. "I thought this was what it was. It happened before."

Isamu and Mokuba helped Joey into a chair. She smoothed his hair and Mokuba poured him a cup of water. Sitting here, fussed over and gentled like this, Joey rather thought he was the patient and not Kaiba.

"Guys, I'm alright," he said, trying to force some brightness into his voice. "I'm fine. Kaiba's the one we need to worry about."

"I'll go check on things," said Mokuba. "But there's not much we can do from here. Yugi said my brother wanted to see him?"

"Yeah, it was the first thing he said," Joey replied, and realised his hands were trembling a little. "He was just so pale, Mokuba, I don't get it. It was like he hadn't eaten in weeks."

Mokuba nodded, looking grave, and disappeared into the office with a firm click of the door.

Alone with Isamu and the bodyguard, Joey turned to face her.

"Sorry for not getting hold of you myself," said Joey guiltily. "I thought of you but I don't have your number or-"

"Don't worry, darling," she murmured, sweeping aside a lock of his hair with her gentle fingers. "It's fine. He's been found and it seems like you saved him. I owe you so much. Thank you." She turned to the bodyguard. "Could you give us a minute, please, Cortes?"

The bodyguard was still for a moment, and Joey thought he would refuse to leave, but with a sudden robotic twist, he left the room to stand in the stairwell just outside the door.

"You're an angel, Joey, you know that?" she murmured, laying her hand on his arm. His trembling stopped. "I know your relationship with Seto has been difficult, yet you dropped everything when you thought he might be in trouble. You're a marvellous friend, and my husband is a fool not to see it."

Her face tightened. Joey pressed his hand over hers and gave it a cautionary shake.

"Naw, come on now," he said. "He's difficult, sure but he's a good guy really. He's gonna be a great dad. I really think so. He just needs time to adjust, I guess."

Isamu stared at him with an open mouth, before closing it again and laying a protective hand on her belly.

"Yes," she said in a low voice, "I certainly think so. But I do wish he would keep his friends as close as his enemies."

This seemed like an odd thing to say and Joey had no response, so he said nothing. Before long, Isamu smiled at him again.

"Would you let me take you to dinner, Joey, when we know all is well?" she asked brightly. "As a thank you?"

"Ur," Joey said, taken aback. "Sure, if you want, but I don't think I can pay for the stuff you're used to."

"Nonsense," she trilled. "My treat. Pass me your phone."

Hesitantly, Joey did so. He watched as she entered herself into his contacts and called her own phone with his. His name now appeared alongside the green 'accept call' button.

"We'll arrange for as soon as possible," she said, passing his phone back. "How does steak sound?"

"Fine," said Joey, staring at his phone in confusion, "but don't you think-"

He was interrupted by the doors being swung open and the paramedics filtered through, pushing Kaiba on the wheelchair. His head lolled to one side, a breathing aid strapped to his face. His eyes were closed. Both Joey and Isamu leapt to their feet. Yugi hurried over, looking tight-faced but hopeful.

"He's fine," Yugi said. "They're taking him in to keep an eye on him and make sure he eats, but apart from a little malnourishment he's not in any danger."

"Thank you," whispered Isamu, pecking Yugi on the cheek. "I had better go with him. Goodbye, Joey. Thank you again. I'll see you soon."

She planted a soft kiss on Joey's cheek in parting too, and followed the procession through the door, accepting Mokuba's arm around her shoulders. Beyond her, Joey could see the green, worn edge of his leather jacket peaking over Kaiba's shoulder. He was trundled into the elevator, the doors slid closed, and they were gone.

"You alright, Joe?" asked Yugi, turning to face him. Joey nodded, suddenly feeling exhausted, and starving.

"Yeah, fine, thanks," he said. "Just hungry."

"Good," Yugi looked relieved as he patted Joey on the shoulder, steering him to the stairwell. "I know for sure you're fine if you start talking about food. Let's go to the burger joint on the way home."

"You're magic, Yug, you know that?" said Joey, allowing his friend to lead him out of the building and to his waiting car.

* * *

Later, at the hospital, Joey and Yugi relieved Mokuba and Isamu to get a night's sleep. They sat in the waiting room, chatting idly, watching doctors and nurses flit in and out of Kaiba's bay. It was close to three in the morning, and when Yugi gave a great yawn, Joey suggested he go home and rest.

"Actually, Joe, I'd rather be close to him," he said. "At least until this feeling wears off."

He shifted uncomfortably in his low armchair and scratched the spot below his ribs. He had been doing that a lot since Kaiba was admitted. A question suddenly occurred to Joey that he was surprised he had not deigned to voice before.

"What was the deal with him needing to see you?" he asked. "The first thing he wanted was to see you, Yug."

"He…" Yugi hesitated, searching for the right words. "Do you remember, years ago, when Kaiba duelled my grandfather, and took his Blue-Eyes?"

"Yeah," said Joey darkly. "That's when we knew for sure that he was an asshole."

"Well," Yugi continued, clearing his throat, "the duel he and I had following that was the first one I really remember where the Pharaoh took over. And he trusted in the Heart of the Cards to defeat Kaiba."

"I know, with Exodia, right?"

"Right. Kaiba was ill for quite some time, you might remember. He was in a wheelchair for a while, and Mokuba had to be in charge of KaibaCorp whilst he recovered."

"From losing a card game?"

"We both know there is a lot at stake in Duel Monsters," Yugi said heavily, and Joey shrugged. "Anyway, Exodia didn't cause Kaiba to become hospitalised. The Pharaoh did. I did.

"The Pharaoh had a lot of abilities granted to him by the Puzzle. You and I both know now that the Millennium Items are dangerous and very powerful. Well, this ability had the power to 'push' the darkness from a person, to help them see the good in themselves, and in the world again. It doesn't fully go away, for anyone, and for most, it would probably be an invisible change in their state of mind, but for Kaiba…"

Yugi hesitated, placing both palms on the windowsill as if to steady himself. His face was tight and pained.

"Kaiba's dark side was thick, and heavy, like tar or something. It was dug so deeply into his soul, it was like a tic. I had to dig every bit of it out, and they were so numerous and twisted, like roots under a tree. It hurt _me_ to push it from him, so I can only imagine what it must have been like to feel it tear out of him." He looked at Joey and suddenly his eyes were no longer Yugi's but an echo of the Pharaoh's, wiser and truer than ever. "It is what having your skeleton ripped out must feel like. And then it manifested."

"The clown guy we fought on Pegasus's Island."

"Right."

"Jeez," Joey whispered, feeling ill. "So this was…?"

"Perhaps an echo of that," said Yugi. "I still have some of the things the Pharaoh gave me, apart from wonderful friends." He smiled warmly at Joey, who punched his arm with a cheeky smile. "When I saw him, I just knew what to do, like how I know how to reach the Heart of the Cards, so I reached for the power and I used it. It wasn't the same this time. He had already had the true darkness pushed from him. This was more like clearing clouds on a rainy day. I think he had forgotten how to see the sun.

"It was what he needed. I don't know how he knew that. Perhaps there's a connection between us now, thanks to the Items. I'm glad it's there, so that I could help him." He pressed a hand into Joey's shoulder. "And you saved his life."

"He owes us pretty big," laughed Joey. "Reckon we'll see any gratitude?"

"Hm," said Yugi, eyeing the door in mock consideration. "Perhaps the Shadow Realm will freeze over before he wakes up."

"That's obscure," Joey laughed. "Are we sure the Shadow Realm is even Hell? I thought it was more like a spirit world."

"Let's not go over this again."

"Fair enough. I'm already terrified of the place as it is."

"I'm perfectly sure you will never have to go there," said Yugi kindly.

"That's debatable."

Both had been so wrapped up in their conversation that neither of them had noticed Kaiba enter through the door on the far side and approach them. He was looking decidedly healthier: his hair had been clipped back into its usual short style and the colour was back in his cheeks. He was thinner than Joey was used to seeing him but it was nothing a few hearty meals would not fix. Joey's green leather jacket was draped over his shoulders like a cloak.

Joey clambered to his feet, a grin on his face.

"Welcome back to the world of the living," he said. Yugi hopped up to stand beside him.

"We're glad you're feeling better, Kaiba," he said earnestly. "Do you need anything? From the pharmacy?"

"The hospital staff have provided me with more than enough narcotics to knock me out solid for three weeks," Kaiba said good-humouredly. "I appreciate your concern, Yugi, but I have been discharged. On the condition I rest of course."

"Great," said Yugi. Joey could see he was more visibly relaxed now that he saw Kaiba walking. He clapped Yugi on the shoulder.

"Get yourself to bed, Yug," he said. "I'll sort ol' moneybags out. You need a lift, pal?"

"That's alright, Joey," Yugi said with a yawn. "It's not far to my place from here."

"Alright, text me when you get in, yeah?"

Yugi laughed. "You sound like grandpa," he said. He took Kaiba's hand in both of his own. "Good to see you well, Kaiba. Do stay that way."

"With greatest effort."

With a cheery wave, Yugi disappeared down the corridor and out of sight.

"Right," said Joey, patting his pockets for his keys and phone. "You got everything?"

Kaiba indicated his entire person as if to say, 'this is literally all I have'.

"Great, let's go."

He strode with purposeful steps to the other end of the waiting room, stopping only when he realised Kaiba was not following.

"Ur, you coming?" he said.

Kaiba approached with slow, deliberate steps. "To where?" he said pointedly.

"I'm giving you a ride," Joey responded, his voice low in his confusion. Had that not been obvious?

"I see," Kaiba said. "Why?"

Joey blinked. "Um… because when a guy's literally just been discharged from hospital they don't usually recommend him walking several miles in the middle of the night to get home?"

"Wise," Kaiba accented, nodding. "I have a car, you know."

Joey shrugged. "So do I."

"I have a driver."

"I _am_ a driver."

Kaiba peered at him for a moment, his eyes narrow. Joey stared right back.

"Fine," said Kaiba eventually, slipping his arms through the tatty sleeves of Joey's jacket. "But we need to stop by the office first. I have some paperwork to pick up."

* * *

Kaiba let Joey drive with minimal distractions. He only made one snide comment about the quality of Joey's car, which Joey returned regarding the quality of Kaiba's face. Kaiba had actually laughed, or rather snorted a few times, and Joey tried not to think about how his jacket was going to smell like Kaiba when he got it back. It looked good on him: a scruffy chic; cool and casual as he lounged in Joey's passenger seat. Joey snuck so many sidelong glances that he almost upended a wheelie bin.

At the office building, Kaiba led them through a back entrance through the carpark. Inside, in some storage area filled with large cardboard boxes bearing the KaibaCorp logo, he swiped a special keycard for a hidden lift. Before Joey knew it, they were standing at the office doors. It was the fastest he had ever been through KaibaCorp headquarters.

It was just as dark inside the office as when Joey had entered it earlier that evening. The moon still shone softly through the window and everything glowed in the milky grey light.

Kaiba strode forward, ignoring the mess of glass and books, heading straight for the desk. Joey followed more slowly, stepping over the wreckages with care.

"Why'd you mess up the office?" he asked.

"None of your concern," replied Kaiba, upending a file onto the desk. Joey approached slowly.

"The light was too much for you, wasn't it?" he said. Kaiba was silent, sifting through the papers. "Couldn't have just flicked the switch like a normal human be-"

He stopped short as his eyes rested on something familiar. In his haste to reach Kaiba before, and the dark of the office, Joey had failed to notice the Blue-Eyes White Dragon statuette standing on the desk, complete and perfect as the day Joey bought it. Joey lifted it with wonder, admiring the seamless adherence of its faceted surfaces.

"You told me you couldn't fix it," he whispered, tilting it in the light of the moon. "Why'd you tell me that, huh?"

"It was easier to lie."

Joey glanced up to see Kaiba observing him steadily. In the dark, his eyes were barely visible, save for the glint from the light in the hallway. Joey wondered if he himself looked equally as shadowy and burnished in the light of the moon.

"You weirdo," said Joey, placing the statue back onto the desk with a soft thump. Kaiba pretended to keep shuffling through the papers as Joey rounded the desk and leant next to him. Kaiba looked taut, like he was holding something in. Maybe his breath.

"Talk to me, then," said Joey with a sigh. "Why'd you disappear? And no more lies."

Kaiba's hands froze. He glanced up to the ceiling, as if searching for a source of strength.

"I needed to get away for a while," he said. Joey waited for more, but none came. Presently Kaiba opened a briefcase and began to arrange papers inside it.

"How did you end up getting so sick?" pressed Joey. "You usually go away for a bit to get better, not worse. What happened?"

Kaiba snapped the briefcase shut too loudly. It echoed in the silent room.

"It just happens," he said curtly. "Try to understand." He scrambled in one of the jacket pockets for a cigarette, but finding it to be Joey's jacket, gave up with a huff of frustration. "I can't help it. It's impossible to fight. It's like he's back, suffocating me."

"Your father?"

"No. Gozaburo." Kaiba stepped away from the desk to peer moodily out of the window, his arms folded tight across his chest. "He was never my father."

"I heard what happened to him," said Joey quietly.

"He was a fool, and a monster," said Kaiba with vitriol, squeezing the edges of Joey's jacket as if it were Gozaburo he was throttling. Joey came up to stand beside him in an act of companionship, but hesitated to put a reassuring hand on his arm. "I knew letting him take us in would be dangerous but I needed it to happen for Mokuba. For both of us."

Joey glanced at Kaiba looking out over the city. Outside, the night was dark as pitch, black before the dawn. Down below them, the dark blocks of the city stood pinpricked with lamplight like a million steady stars. The river cut through, still as glass, reflections of the world shimmering in her depths. Beside her, cumulus shapes of trees in the gardens were every shade of dark green, the silhouette breaking like a surf over the lights. All was reflected in Kaiba's eyes. A world he had sunk into his bones, as well as the fathomless depths of his pupils.

Joey sighed. "He treated you bad, huh? I get that."

In the window, Joey saw their own reflections, stood side by side in the darkness, broken and half-formed as they were in the double-glazing: he shorter, scruffier, all untucked shirt and out-turned sneakers; Kaiba tall as a tree with long, delicate branch-like limbs and high cheekbones. Joey felt his breath catch.

"You know," said Joey after a moment of silence, his voice so low that the traffic below almost drowned it out, "I work with kids every day. The troubled ones, the ones from fucked-up homes or that just don't know where they fit in. You know who I see in them more than anything else? I see me. I see you. I see all of us. That's what we were, Kaiba. That's what we are. Just a few fucked-up kids."

Kaiba gazed steadily at him, unmoving. A siren, quiet in the distance, pierced the night. Joey drew a deep breath and continued,

"I know you. I see you every day. Whoever you did all this stuff for… I don't reckon it's for you anymore. Maybe it never was."

Kaiba said nothing for a long moment, pressing the tips of his fingers to the cool glass. His reflection did the same, and they gazed at each other for what felt like eons.

"It was what I wanted," he murmured.

Joey sighed, finally lifting his twitching hand and laying it on Kaiba's shoulder. He realised that Kaiba had been doing a great job of hiding his trembling up until that moment. Joey gave him a soft shake and turned to leave. Before he could go more than a step, Kaiba had caught his arm.

"Do you…" he began, his voice choked and hoarse. "Do you remember what I said to you at the wedding? My wedding?"

Joey turned back slowly.

"Yeah," he said. "You said… you said something about how you wish you didn't have to do it. And when I asked what you meant, you said, 'Everything.'" Joey search Kaiba's face for an explanation. "Everything? What did you mean?"

"Come here."

Slow as stone eroding, Kaiba pulled Joey closer and pressed him against the window gently, palms against the glass. With both of Kaiba's hands on his shoulders, digging into his flesh like talons, he held his breath, gazing out over the jagged expanse of the city that was his home. Over his right shoulder, he could see the reflection of Kaiba's taut face, surveying with him. Joey's heart began to pound in his chest; he could feel his fingertips begin to tingle, like little electric shocks were pulsing all around his body.

At his back, the weight of Kaiba's chest. At the shell of his ear, the tickle of his hot breath. In the dark here, they were totally alone. Joey swallowed hard, as Kaiba began to speak,

"You know me? Do you know what I've been through to stay alive? To keep this company alive?" His words were hot in Joey's ear. "I was raised by ruthless men who did whatever it took to get what they wanted. Who didn't care who they hurt or how many people's lives were destroyed. I was trained to follow every step, and love it."

Joey shuddered as Kaiba's lips stuck on the tip of his ear. "Hey, Kaiba, cut it-"

Kaiba whirled him around, so that his back thudded against the glass. Suddenly the danger of the long drop to the pavement below hit him with full force and his knees buckled. Kaiba's hands were there on his shoulders, his knee firm between his legs. Joey forced his shaking calves to support him, ensuring that no part of him would touch Kaiba's knee.

"I've always known what I need to do," Kaiba continued in a ragged whisper. "I am the one who has to make the decisions and I am the one who takes the fall."

Kaiba's eyes hovered inches before him. His edges blurred like he was fading away but his eyes were as sharp as cut diamond. His tongue flicked out to wet dark lips.

Joey's breath caught as Kaiba's eyes dropped to his mouth.

"For the first time," Kaiba said, his hand lifting from Joey's pinioned shoulder to tilt his chin. Joey felt his eyelids flutter, pressing his cheek into Kaiba's cool fingers, as Kaiba whispered right up against his lips, "I'm wavering."

Joey felt himself mouth the word, lost in the sensation of Kaiba's hand suddenly slipping steadily though his hair.

Summoning all the willpower he possessed, Joey took a steeling breath and scooped the hand up, pressing it to his chest, just above his heart. Kaiba stared at it for a long moment.

"Why do you do this?" Joey said, his voice as quiet as the dawn behind him. "You put way too much pressure on yourself. I know you got a lot going on but you need to cut yourself some slack once in a while. We ain't gonna live forever, you know."

Kaiba glanced up and grunted, partly with amusement. The blue in his eyes was striking.

"I never thought I would," he murmured, his voice as hoarse as wind on dry grass. He let his head sink onto Joey's shoulder. Joey sighed and took the weight, wrapping both arms around his back. He could feel every ridge in Kaiba's spine. They fell against the glass with a thump and Joey held as still as he could with his thighs trembling, his palms sweating badly.

"Your marriage," said Joey after a few minutes of silence, during which the sun began to peak over the rooftops of Domino behind him, bathing the room in eerie orange light. "You did it for love, right? If not… you must have had a reason. A good one."

"The only reason worth having," said Kaiba. He peeled back long enough to tug a pendant hanging from a long rope about his neck from under his shirt. Inside, Joey knew, was a picture of Mokuba, young and smiling.

"No, man," said Joey, rubbing his neck where Kaiba's breath had tickled it. "Not when it comes to love. Love has got to be selfish. You got to feel it in your bones."

"Like I should be taking advice from you," Kaiba snorted, tucking the necklace away and sinking back into Joey's shoulder. "Mate-less hound."

"Hey," said Joey, grinning sleepily. "I may not be the most experienced, but I've had some pretty good examples." He thought of Yugi and Téa, dancing so intimately at their wedding, surrounded by their friends, as if that room was the only room that existed in the whole world.

Kaiba pulled away again in order to raise a sardonic eyebrow. "So what's stopping you?" he asked quietly. "Feeling inadequate?"

Joey tried to ignore the way Kaiba's eye swept up and down his body as he composed a response. "No, that's not it," he said carefully. "More like… you know how there are some people who are so completely incredible that no-one else seems to be able to be that good?" He kept his eyes down, examining the sheen on Kaiba's boots, eager to hide the blush creeping up his features. "I know too many of those people."

"You have high expectations," said Kaiba.

"It's not that," said Joey, sighing. "It's more than that. I just know who I am. I couldn't just be with someone for the sake of it, you know?" He made the mistake of looking up, catching Kaiba's eye. He felt his voice falter in his throat. "I-I think maybe there's been something stopping me for a long time, 'cause I can't seem to find someone that makes me feel…" He stuttered, the catch in his throat plugging his speech. He felt himself shrug, and took a deep breath, his eyes on the floor between them.

"I guess we're just different people, aren't we?"

To his great surprise, he felt Kaiba's long fingers suddenly cup the shell of his ear. He held his breath as Kaiba leaned in, bypassing his lips and sinking his nose into the hair above Joey's ear. Joey felt, rather than heard him whisper,

"Not really."

Then he was gone, the pressure from his skin burning like fire across Joey's cheek.

He hoisted himself unsteadily to his feet and helped Kaiba gather up the rest of the paperwork, not speaking at all except to acknowledge directions. The car ride to Kaiba's mansion was a silent affair. Joey needed all his attention to concentrate on not crashing the car, his sweating palms a hindrance on the steering wheel. After a stunted good-bye, he turned around and drove straight home, allowing himself to collapse into bed in the jacket that smelled like Kaiba.

He slept all through the day, dreaming of Kaiba's long fingers and blue, blue eyes.

* * *

Late that afternoon, Joey was startled from sleep by the piercing ring of his mobile in the pocket of the leather jacket. Heart pounding, he answered, trying to sound as awake as possible.

"Hey, it's Joey."

"Hello, Joey," came a sweet, female trill. "It's Isamu, darling. Are you free tonight?"

Joey sat up, absently tidying his hair. "Sure," he stuttered, "what's up?"

"I was going to wait a little while, but I decided I'm hungry now," Isamu said cheerily. "How about that dinner tonight? Eight o'clock?"

"Uh, sure," said Joey, disoriented. "How's Kaiba?"

"Just fine, darling, he's in his study all evening. I really have nothing to do. Will you be ready by eight? I know you had a long night."

"Yeah, alright. Where are we going? I can drive to-"

"Not at all, Joey, I'll pick you up," Isamu said, brushing off his insistence. "After all, it's my treat!"

Joey was rather glad he decided on a simple smart shirt and black suit trousers as Isamu showed up in a glitzy black number that left very little to the imagination. Joey swallowed as he greeted her, averting his eyes from the plunge of her ivory breasts or the brazen way the strap slipped from her soft, rounded shoulders. She chattered happily in the limo, insisting Joey seat himself beside her, wrapped in her sweet-smelling perfume that Joey now recognised as peaches. He found himself easing up, thinking of her as Téa (or maybe Mai without the flirting) and laughing as she showed him the overly-complicated tie of her heels and how long it took her to do her hair.

"Must be kinda fun," Joey had said, fingering the clasps that held her locks in place. "In some ways."

"Oh, absolutely," she grinned. Then she leaned in too close to fluff the back of Joey's unruly barnet. "We'll have to do yours sometime."

"I don't think so," Joey had laughed, but his heart was hammering and the angle of her cleavage was so direct that he had to start all over engaging with her as he would a friend.

They settled at the table a little before eight, in a secluded corner of a dark-panelled booth. The walls glowed with a soft red hue, lit by the ambient lamp above their table. A couple of low candles burned between them, their pretty flames dancing merrily, casting flickering shadows in the angles of Isamu's face. Her dress sparkled like it was lit by starlight, and her full, red lips lingered too-long on the bulbous glass with every sip of scarlet wine.

"So," said Joey, digging into the thick, red steak that was set before him, tearing his eyes from her snow-white throat. "I'm guessing you're a gamer?"

"Oh, naturally," said Isamu, sipping wine. "I've dabbled in most things. I'd be a fool not to, really, considering how fully they consume the market."

"You like Duel Monsters then?" Joey grinned, shovelling steak. "What's your favourite card?"

"Oh, I don't play Duel Monsters," said Isamu, airly. "Can't stand the game."

Joey stared, a forkful of food halfway to his mouth. "Huh?"

"Don't you think it's awful? Monsters tearing each other apart?"

Joey took his fork into his mouth so that he could chew for a few moments in quiet contemplation. When it came to swallowing, he found that it had become quite difficult.

"You," he managed after a while and a generous sip of wine, "don't play Duel Monsters?"

"No," Isamu said, still with an affable smile. "Do you?"

"Erm. Yeah, kinda a lot," Joey admitted sheepishly. "Sort-of professionally for a while. I teach it now as a way of counselling. But," he said, as she opened her mouth to speak. Interrupted, she simply tilted her head to one side and waited. "You're married to Seto Kaiba. Biggest gaming nerd probably in the history of ever, and you… don't play Duel Monsters."

"Is that so strange?" she asked gaily, delicately slicing her steak. "I suppose you'll be even more horrified to hear that I don't actually much like video or card games at all. I know about them, but I dislike them really."

"Okay, are you actually Isamu Kaiba or am I on a date with a random-" Joey cut himself short, suddenly feeling mortified. _What had he just said?_

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that, it just slipped-"

"It's okay," Isamu whispered. She was gazing at him with her beautiful doe-like eyes. Her strap slipped off her shoulder again. Joey's fingers twitched. "It's really okay. I don't mind."

"Er,"Joey spluttered. To hide his growing abasement, he took another rather large sip of wine. "What was I saying?"

"Oh, yes," she said, returning to her steak. "You were asking me about my estranging marriage."

"Your what marriage?" Joey said, stopping short again.

"Oh, come on Joey, you know what's going on," she said, this time her voice had an edge. "I know you see it."

Joey was quiet for a long time.

"Well, he's a hard guy to get close to," he said eventually.

"Five years should be enough, don't you think?"

"I've been trying for twenty and look how far it's got me," Joey chuckled sardonically. "But if he's neglecting you then he's insane. You're perfect. Any guy would want you. He's like the luckiest man alive."

He had said this without really thinking, observing and remembering Isamu's sheen of perfect black hair, her fluttering lashes and prim, light body with its satin curves. Only too late did he realise that she was staring at him with abject adoration.

"I don't get why he wouldn't want you," continued Joey, again without thinking.

"Really?" Isamu shifted closer, her petal-soft hand twisting into Joey's, making him drop his fork. Joey froze, his mind reeling. Kaiba's wife leaned in – his _pregnant_ wife – her warm breath tickling Joey's lips. He could see the glue on her false lashes, the subtle coalescent colours of her eyeshadow. She came forward. Her lips were warm and sweet and soft. Joey felt his eyes flutter closed, his hands moving to slide up her smooth forearms. She was soft as silk, her heady perfume filling his head, and Joey was unable to put her down. His mind shunted picture after picture before his closed eyes: Kaiba kissing Isamu; Kaiba pinning her tight to the bed; now it was Joey pinning Isamu down, his body working against hers. Then Kaiba behind him, his lips on Joey's neck, working into him. Together they tumble away until it's only them, gasping for breath on sweaty shoulders and thick pillows.

Joey jolted, pushing Isamu back a little. He hurriedly wiped her lipstick marks from his mouth and she blanched, offended.

"Sorry," he said. "I think you got the wrong idea. I ain't no homewrecker."

Isamu hung her head, twisting her ring around her finger.

"Hardly a home," she whispered. "Hardly even a marriage."

"Yeah, maybe, but I'm not the answer," insisted Joey. "You need to talk to Kaiba."

"He won't listen," she said, her voice sad and passionate. "He only married me for my father's property anyway."

"He… wait, he what?" Joey said blankly. "He doesn't love you?"

"I don't think so." Her lip trembled, but she sucked in a steadying breath. "He's a hard man to read."

"That's for sure." Joey tapped his fingers against the edge of the table. A thought occurred to him. "Um… do you love Kaiba?" he asked cautiously. He expected a fierce supposition, an angry reassurance. Of _course_ she did! How could he think that!

Instead, she sighed and said, "I thought I did but now…" She trailed off, eyes glazed over.

"Right," Joey sighed, rubbing his hand through his hair. "Look, I don't think this is a good idea. I gotta… I should go."

Isamu took a deep breath, running her eyes once over Joey's face as he stood, pushing the remains of his steak to one side.

"You're really fed up, aren't you," said Joey softly. Isamu said nothing, turning her cheek towards him in a gesture of unhappiness. "Look, thanks for the dinner. I'm really sorry about everything. I'll tell your driver that you're still in here and that I'm going home."

With that, he finished the glass of red wine in two large gulps and then he turned tail and left, hands shaking, already reaching for his phone, and the right words to say.


	5. Joey's Other Half

Before even reaching home, Joey had made the call and been directed to a curt answering machine. He had never felt more nervous in his life, but a shaky message is better than no message at all, he figured.

"Hey, Kaiba, it's Joe. I know this is your private number and everything, but I really gotta speak to you. It's important. And I'd rather do it in person, so call me back with a time. You got my number. No skin off my nose if you don't get back to me… but I hope you do. Okay, bye."

He hung up, feeling drained. Only a few minutes passed before he received a reply. Heart hammering in his chest, he opened his messages. Beneath the two that read 'Office' and 'Please', was now a third:

' _Can you come now?'_

Joey's fingers trembled. He glanced at the clock. It was not even nine.

' _Sure. Where?'_

' _My office. Twenty minutes.'_

Joey swallowed and threw on his coat.

The Kaiba Corp building was quiet. There were no staff present, except for a handful of straight-backed officials with torches and keys strapped to their belts. A security guard performed a cursory search on Joey with a detector as he walked in and cleared him for entry straight away. He led him over to the elevator and swiped the card.

Joey closed his eyes as the floors swept past between the paper-thin gap in the elevator doors. He steadied himself with trembling fingers on the cool metal of the wall. When the swoop came as the elevator slowed to a halt, it made him feel nauseous rather than exhilarated.

The oak doors loomed like great guardians before him. He knocked; tentative and quiet. A low voice from inside beckoned his entry,

"It's open."

"Hey," he said, pushing the door inwards. This time, Kaiba stood before his desk, leaning against it with his arms folded. Joey stepped across the threshold, tapping his sweaty hands against his thighs. "Long time, no see," he joked lamely. Kaiba only raised his eyebrows. Uncomfortable, Joey cleared his throat. "There's something we gotta talk about."

"So you said," Kaiba gestured to the answering machine. Joey nodded, glancing around the room. It was as if Kaiba's meltdown had never happened: the glass had been swept away and the books had been returned to their rightful places on the shelves. The Blue-Eyes statue had be reneged to a small spot on a lower shelf, its pale eyes regarding Joey blithely.

"Right, um." Joey hovered nervously. "Can we sit?"

Kaiba answered by rocking himself onto his feet and stepping smartly to the couch. He touched up his suit trousers as he sat down. Joey dropped into the seat next to him, keeping a careful distance between them.

"It's about your wife."

"I see."

"She uh… she kinda… kissed me."

Kaiba made no indication that he had even heard. Then all at once he was on his feet and marching to the telephone. Joey scrambled up and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him back.

"Kaiba, wait, it's not her fault! Kaiba, stop!" He spun Kaiba around, forcing him to look into Joey's eyes. "Don't punish her, she's so lonely, man."

Kaiba was breathing heavily, his eyes searching Joey's face. He ripped his arm out of Joey's grip and before he could be stopped, threw the phone against the wall. It broke into several pieces, wires poking out in all directions, as it clattered to the floor.

Kaiba rounded on Joey, who backed up.

"Look, man, I don't want your wife," he gasped, bringing his hands up like shields. "She's great and all but I wouldn't do that to you, you know that, right?" Joey stopped when his calves hit the edges of the couch. "You got the perfect girl, man, you gotta take better care of –ack!"Kaiba gripped his cheeks hard on either side and Joey's hands flew up to protect his neck instinctually.

"You are an idiot," Kaiba breathed and kissed him.

Joey's breath hitched. The hands holding Kaiba's wrists went limp.

It was as if the world had ground to a shuddering halt like a train ramming into a buffer. This was nothing like the consuming assault in the mansion gardens, nor the soft, chaste press in the dark office. With each pull at his lips, Joey could almost feel Kaiba's desperation. The kiss sent sparks all down his body and cracked his knees with a sharp blow like a hammer, forcing them to buckle. He sank on jelly legs to the sofa, dropping like a stone. Kaiba knelt before him, tucked between his knees and the only thing in the world was the coriaceous texture of his unrestrained kisses.

"I won't do it anymore," Kaiba breathed ferociously between kisses, his breath tingling like static on Joey's lips. "I won't."

Scrambling upwards, sliding downwards. Hands shunting him down, Joey felt the couch come up beneath his back. Now he found himself lengthways, his feet hanging off the other end of the couch. His occipital plunged into the solid edge of the armrest.

"Wait! Wait!"

But there was no stopping Kaiba. Joey could not breathe. The dense weight of Kaiba pressed into his chest, and his head span with the effort of staying focussed on anything at all. Kaiba's hands were in his hair, his tongue plunging into Joey's mouth. He was like a hurricane, and Joey was caught, tumbling about in the air, reaching for something to cling on to while he was thrust back and forth. For what else could he do but ride it out? The Earth was ripping away and the rush of air in his ears and the plummet of his stomach dropping out of his body were all he was sensible to.

Joey found himself clinging back, clamping his arms tightly around Kaiba and holding on, sinking into deeper kisses, feeling their hearts pounding hard in tandem against their chests. It was only when Joey started to see stars behind his lids from the pressure in the back of his head that he managed to summon the strength to push Kaiba off and release his aching neck. Breathing hard, he opened his eyes. Kaiba swam into view above him, bearing upon him like a tiger; the only thing stopping him from sinking his teeth back into Joey's flesh was the hand held against his chest.

"Whu- wha-" Joey tried, his tongue swollen and sticking like there was peanut butter on the roof of his mouth. Kaiba was flushing deeply, his face taut, his mouth a hard line. His eyes were glassy and lidded, his shirt rumpled. He dug a cushion from beneath his hip and rested it behind Joey's head so that he had something between his skull and the wood of the armrest.

His head clearing, Joey followed the arc of Kaiba's body and found one of his own legs planted on the floor, as if to outset an escape, the other hooked somewhere over Kaiba's back. He lowered it slowly, daring not to bait the wild animal in Kaiba's eyes into another attack.

"Kaiba," Joey began shakily. He forced himself to take a steadying breath before speaking again. "We can't _do_ this. You're married."

"I'll call her," Kaiba ground out, deliriously disentangling himself like a man possessed. "End it now. To Hell with it."

"Don't you dare, asshole," Joey cried, and he grabbed Kaiba's shirt and yanked him back down. "She doesn't deserve that. You need to _speak_ to her. Properly. And besides," he added a little sheepishly, "you broke the phone."

"I have a cell," Kaiba said, digging in his pocket awkwardly with one hand, his belly pressed between Joey's thighs. Joey pulled his hand away and gripped Kaiba's face, forcing him to look up.

"What is this?" he said in a low whisper. "Why do you do this? Talk to me, for fuck's sake."

Kaiba tugged Joey's hands away.

"I love you," he said very quietly. He spoke as if the room were full of people and this was a secret for their ears only. "And I can't do anything about it."

Joey said nothing, only stared. The sound of a grand old clock on the other side of the room echoed as though someone had stuffed the mechanism directly into his ear canal and amplified it. His whole brain rattled with every _tick_ and _tock_.

Kaiba was watching him, his eyes perfectly clear and blue, like the morning sky, and relaxed, as though as great weight had been lifted from his loaded shoulders. Kaiba was in love with him? He bent to kiss Joey again, soft as cotton wool, his lips hot and firm. _Kaiba_ was in love with him? His intrepid hands were on Joey's waist, thumbing over the protruding bones of his hips.

It was as if the tentativeness between them had been swept away by a gentle tide, leaving the warm sand of their bodies pressed together. The evening sun set the room aglow as Joey let Kaiba push all his fingers into his hair, rubbing the curves of his scalp, relishing in the tingles each press sent fizzing over his neck and lips. Kaiba was in _love_ with him. His hips were beginning to cant, his toes curling in the confines of his sneakers, his body convulsing like a beating heart. Kaiba scooped him closer, his tongue hard and wet on Joey's throat. Joey could hear the coarse brush of his stubble grating over Kaiba's tongue, and the rush of fabric as Kaiba thrust assertively against the tightness in his jeans. _Kaiba was in love with him._

The idea of Kaiba being in love with him didn't seem real enough to be able to take hold: it flitted about like a bird, so Joey tried to focus on something as his shirt was pushed up to his armpits.

Kaiba was married. This was fact. Joey reached for the guilt about that that had stayed his lust before, but either it had moved further away or Joey was no longer strong enough to make a grab for it. He wound his restless fingers into Kaiba's hair and held on, trying to reason that it was not so much that he was throwing caution to the wind, but rather it had been ripped out his hands by that whirlwind tornado.

"I want you," the ragged breath of the wind whooshing past his ears whispered, hot and wet. He shuddered and arched into Kaiba's hands. The bird fluttered and screeched and beat its wings, and Joey found he couldn't think for its flurry. The ceiling swam above him, the lines in the tiles criss-crossing into a crazy pattern. He could feel Kaiba's hand on his belt; an insistent tug and click of metal and it was splayed open like a maw. Kaiba grunted against Joey's neck, his breath coming hard and fast against Joey's damp skin.

Kaiba, the tornado, the master, was like a fiery snake above him, coiling back and forth with the strength of his need, leaving languid licks up Joey's throat as he moaned, gripping and releasing thick fistfuls of Joey's hair. Desperate and sweating now, Joey yanked Kaiba's tight trousers down to his thighs, ripping down his own jeans with undignified haste. Suddenly the hard length of Kaiba's cock was heavy against his own. Joey shuddered, his thighs unsteady on the wet leather of the sofa, as Kaiba began to grind hard against him.

The air felt thick, like soup on a low heat for too long, leaving them gulping and gasping. Joey fought to breathe, coiling tight around his core as his orgasm built, seeking Kaiba's mouth with frantic tongue. Kaiba's kisses were like honey in his mouth, his head was a tangled mess as he thrusted, feeling only the press of their bodies, and the unbearable heat of the room. With a cry, he came, his arms tight as a vice around Kaiba's neck. Kaiba did not last much longer. As he finished, he grabbed as much of Joey as he could: lose untidy fistfuls of his bunched-up shirt, both arms tight around Joey's back, his nose buried deep in Joey's neck. It seemed to last forever, and at the same time, no longer than a breath.

When the groans subsided, Joey watched Kaiba push himself back up on his arms, and stroked a stray piece of hair away from his sweaty brow.

"I don't understand," Joey said breathlessly after a long, leaden kiss, and his voice matched his trembling heart.

Kaiba said nothing, his eyes darting between both of Joey's. His hair was a mess, his eyes were dancing like they had flames behind them. He ducked his head to rub his brow on his shoulder and Joey wondered if the experience had been too much. He gently touched two fingers to a blossoming hickey on Kaiba's clavicle.

"I gotta ask: is this about Isamu?" Joey asked carefully when he had Kaiba's attention. "Are you not like, trying to get back at her?"

"It was never about Isamu," Kaiba sighed. "You're so dense. As always."

"Well, that sounds more like it," said Joey. He shifted into a sitting position, and Kaiba let him rise reluctantly. He reached for a box of tissues on a low, black glass table to his left. Joey took them gratefully and wiped his stomach clean, adjusting his clothes. When he was done, and they were both presentable again, Kaiba laced his fingers together and rested them before him on his knees, twisting his thumbs in distracted patterns. Joey pressed his forehead on the crescent of his fist, hiding his eyes from the light that suddenly seemed all-too bright.

"You're in love with me?" he asked, not looking up from the patterns in the blue carpet, like ripples on an ocean. He felt as though cast out onto the waves in a rowing boat, with only the silent Kaiba for company, and this heavy swell in his chest for nourishment. "Me?"

"I'm loath to repeat it," was the response.

"For how long?"

"Twenty years."

Joey let out a long breath that only made him feel dizzy.

"And," he continued unsteadily, "you don't care that Isamu kissed me?"

"Of course I care," said Kaiba, surprised. "My wife, kissing the man I've harboured hidden feelings for the last twenty fucking years?" He rose to his feet, passion suddenly claiming his limbs. "You're beyond every accusation of idiocy anyone's ever staked upon you if you think for a second that I don't care."

"Alright, damn," said Joey, standing too, and closing his wrists over Kaiba's to still his flying arms. Kaiba took a steeling breath and met Joey's eyes. Joey grinned. "You love me."

"Please stop saying it."

"But it's true." And suddenly Joey's heart was bursting beneath his breast. It was his turn to take Kaiba's face in his hands, press his thumbs to those long, taut lips. His jaw was set like iron, but his eyes were sparkling. Joey could not help but grin openly, searching every inch of Kaiba's face, from the tight-frown lines on his forehead to the greying stubble on his steely chin.

"We're _both_ idiots," said Joey, and took advantage of Kaiba's momentary surprise to press a firm kiss to his open lips.

When they parted – many sweet moments later – Joey had to once again untangle himself from Kaiba's limbs. Rubbing his face and neck, he stepped away to lean against the desk with his arms folded.

"So," he said, grinning as Kaiba rearranged his tousled hair and untucked shirt. "What do we do?"

The question weighed heavy in the air. Kaiba stepped behind Joey to his desk and took a seat, resuming his familiar pose of leaning forward with his fingers laced below his chin.

"I already told you what I am prepared to do," Kaiba said, observing Joey with steady eyes, watching him as he sank into the chair before his desk and leaned back with a deep sigh.

"It ain't right," he said quietly. "She's a good woman."

"She's a survivor," said Kaiba. "I don't pretend to think otherwise. If I were to assume the dissolving of our union would break her then I would be serving her a great insult."

"But what about the baby?"

"There is no baby."

Joey stared openly.

"What?"

"It was a lie devised by my father-in-law," explained Kaiba, "or rather, a scheme, in order to keep me from you and to speed along the creation of an heir. One of the conditions of my marriage to Isamu was the guarantee of grandchildren. There, of course, was the added concern that whatever child Yugi and Téa may go on to have would end up succeeding me. He fears my working with Yugi. He knows how close we have become. At the time of Yugi's wedding, Kenneth Crane had decided he had waited long enough."

Joey stared. The child that had haunted him was fiction, and wasted away into the wind blowing past the windows that arched behind Kaiba.

"I'm sorry for not denying it sooner."

Joey shook his head. "Hell, it's okay. I'm just… I mean I'm happy I guess, but also… I was kinda looking forward to being an uncle of sorts."

Even in the dim light Joey could tell Kaiba had lifted a thin eyebrow. "Could you imagine me a father?" he asked incredulously.

"You're a good brother," was Joey's response. "You would manage. But you gotta do what's right by you. Does Isamu want children?"

Kaiba was silent for a long moment. He lifted a long, thin finger to trace patterns in the wood of the desk. "She detests the idea," he said eventually.

"Then you know what's right," said Joey. Kaiba met his eyes and nodded once.

"So then, what was the deal with the marriage?" pressed Joey. "Why did you do it if you loved me and not her?"

In answer, Kaiba opened a drawer in his desk and fished around inside for a few moments. He re-emerged with a collection of documents, marked with red stamps like blood and held together with a large paperclip. He passed them to Joey, who took them carefully and leafed through whilst Kaiba watched expectantly.

"Deeds of… land?" Joey remarked. Kaiba nodded as Joey passed the papers back. "So Crane was telling the truth."

"Isamu's father is very wealthy, and in possession of a great deal of land, or has the means to obtain it," said Kaiba, flicking despondently through the papers. "I needed them. I…"

He hesitated, staring at the papers as though they might lend him the fortitude to continue. Joey shifted restlessly in his chair waiting for him to do so. Kaiba patted the paper into a neat pile and slipped them back into the drawer, as if hiding them would eliminate the issue entirely.

"Have you ever been to KaibaLand?" he asked suddenly, and Joey was thrown by the change of subject.

"Yeah, once to see what it was like," he admitted, abashed. "We didn't trash it or anything," he added quickly, "and Tristan only threw up on that attendant a _little_ bit-"

Kaiba interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "I only ask because I need you to understand. When I built KaibaLand it was for a purpose. My brother and I lived under the tyrannical arm of our adopted father for many years during our youth and it was always our plan to build theme parks for children: the impoverished, the lonely and the destitute, to have a place of seclusion and respite. To be admitted no matter who they are. Of course, business rarely works that way, and I have only had the luxury of allowing free entry for children _once_."

Joey remembered the day. It had been huge news.

"So when this happened, I knew I wanted, no, I _needed_ it to become a frequent thing. For my brother, for myself. To acquit me of all the terrible things that I've done to build this company into what it is." He was standing now, pacing before the great window, as Joey listened raptly to his tale. "But doing this was costing us in profits, and the people who have stayed unerringly by my side as I built KaibaCorp into what it is could not follow my train of thought, and so I absolved to do this my way.

"I met Isamu's father at a business meeting, discussing my purchase of a large stretch of land in Europe that would allow me to start building another KaibaLand there. He requested to speak with me alone, and I accented, standing beside him in the closed-off conference room. He put a hand on my shoulder and said all was final, he would sell me the land, but I must meet his conditions. I asked him what these were, of course, and he said, 'all in good time'.

"A week following, I attended an event he had invited me to in London. There, he introduced me to his daughter. I had no interest in her, but I began to see what scheme he had concocted. Soon enough, he told me that the terms for his sale of the land rode on my agreeing to marry his daughter. Thinking only of Mokuba and our future, I agreed to his conditions."

He had stood up to pace and now stopped before the window. He turned to face Joey, his expression tight and resigned.

"As for my wedding," he continued quietly, "there was good reason I didn't invite you. It almost killed me that you came. I had been drinking, and I think if Taylor hadn't interrupted us, I might have broken down and told you everything then."

Silently cursing Tristan's poor timing, Joey floundered for something to say to that.

"So you did it for Mokuba?" he asked at last.

"For both of us," Kaiba countered, his voice hard.

"No," said Joey, stepping over to him. "You did it 'cause you thought it would get you where you wanted to be. I know you. And now you gotta ask yourself if you're happy. 'Cause I'm looking at you and I don't see that."

Kaiba's mouth twisted into a tight line.

"It was the right thing to do by Mokuba," he argued.

"But Mokuba's an adult now," said Joey gently. "Old enough to take care of himself, and from what I hear, he's doing really fucking well. You did what you meant to do, Kaiba. You've done enough."

Upon hearing these words, it was like a heavy weight had been lifted from Kaiba's shoulders. His knees shook, his face turned ashen white, and he sank to the floor in a heap. Joey scrambled over to crouch beside him, taking his shoulders in a firm grip.

"Don't cop out on me now, pal," he said, heaving Kaiba up against the window where he lolled like a ragdoll, breathing heavily. "You want some water or somethin'?"

"No," said Kaiba, his voice surprisingly calm, "just let me sit here."

"Alright," said Joey, holding his shoulder cautiously, "but if you pass out I ain't going to take the fall for it."

"No-one will assume you did anything to me," said Kaiba. "Not after last time."

"They better not."

Joey sank down next to Kaiba against the glass pane of the enormous window, the evening behind them. His long shadow stretched before him in the glow of the orange sunlight painted on the carpet; the languorous silhouette of Kaiba's frame resting peacefully on its shoulder. Behind him, muffled by the glass, he could hear the rumble of the traffic far below, and the caw of some summer birds leaving late for their migration high above. And oh, he could picture the sunset, warm as brass, with the glittering boxes of Domino City's skyline spread out before it like glassware under a hot lamp. Joey's back felt warm and cool all at once, and his neck tickled with the soft puffs of Kaiba's steady breath.

He could sleep here, he thought: cocooned in the sprawling warmth of Kaiba's office, with his troubled friend leaning the weight of his worries on his shoulder, his back to everything that both frightened and comforted him. If it could be safe here, then here they both could stay, and perhaps the world would forget them, and the sun would set into warm night, and they would be allowed to sleep.

He lifted a weary hand and smoothed Kaiba's hair, lulling him unknowingly into slumber.

"Thanks for telling me all that," he murmured softly. Kaiba was silent of course. "You've been really brave. I just didn't get it."

His hand fell away and he shifted into a more comfortable position, eventually slipping into sleep, with his cheek pressed into the silky cushion of Kaiba's hair.

* * *

Joey jolted awake when Kaiba stirred. It was dark. Night had fallen whilst they slept close together in the quiet of the office. Their shadows were gone; replaced by a midnight blue hue that had settled over the furniture and varnished the edges with a milky grey light from the full moon. Kaiba snored softly, his head on Joey's shoulder, his face pressed into the grooves of his shirt.

Joey peeled his cheek from Kaiba's soft hair, dusting away the strands that clung to his beard and cheekbones, to check the time. It was past ten. He gently eased Kaiba into a sitting position.

"Hey," he said. "It's late. Wake up, Kaiba."

"Mm," Kaiba responded sleepily. "Time."

"Ten past ten."

"Shit," he said, suddenly more awake. He took in Joey's closeness and the hands that were supporting his torso. "It was real," he added, more to himself, than Joey.

"'Fraid so." Joey heaved himself to his feet, and then pulled Kaiba up with him. They stood level, admiring the twinkling of Domino's lights far below. "What should we do?"

"What's right," said Kaiba, lightly sweeping away the stray hairs that clung to Joey's forehead as he had slept. Joey saw the impressions in Kaiba's cheek where his rumpled shirt had dug into the skin, pink as scars. His eyes twinkled with the reflection of a thousand stars in the city below. "I should have known that after Yugi, you'd be next to save me."

"Took me, like, twenty years to figure it out, though," said Joey, shrugging. "The Pharaoh would have probably just crushed your mind again."

"This hurt less," Kaiba grimaced. "I appreciate that."

Joey could not supress his laugh. "I'm no Exodia," he teased.

"Not nearly enough muscle," Kaiba agreed, tapping Joey's dense chest with his knuckles. Joey swept his hand away indignantly.

"Hey, c'mon," he grunted good-naturedly. "I bet I look better with my shirt off."

"If I argue with you, will it expedite the process?"

Joey shook his head in disbelief, sweeping past Kaiba to fetch his bag from the sofa. Kaiba heaved his briefcase from the desk and together they headed for the elevator.

"I was serious, you know."

"I'm not listening to you, moneybags."

* * *

They parted, not without some fumbling and hot breath and hands disappearing into a soft nest of hair in the car park. Frost had begun to form, seizing every dark surface with frigid fingers. Joey popped the car door open with the crack of ice breaking, and said in a heavy voice,

"We need to think, to decide what we want." Kaiba watched him, stood a foot or so away from the car, his long coat sweeping up in the icy wind. "And you need to talk to Isamu. Tell her what happened and… well, whatever you want, I guess."

"You're going?" Kaiba demanded, his fingers balled either from the cold, or something else. "Tell me what this means."

Joey gestured helplessly.

"It means you're a headcase, probably," he laughed. "Just… give me some time to figure this out."

Kaiba stepped forward, slipping his frozen fingers about Joey's neck. Joey shuddered and met his eyes. His fingertips sank into the long, loose hair at Joey's nape.

"I don't need time," he said, "I think we were all given too much of it."

"You're probably right," Joey breathed. "But my head's a mess. I'm exhausted, and I'm hungry. You look like you could do with a night's rest. If you still think this is the right thing tomorrow, well, then we'll do what we need to do, alright?"

Kaiba frowned deeply, pressing his forehead against Joey's, his bottom lip worried between his teeth. Then all at once he swept Joey into a penetrative, bruising kiss that Joey could feel in his bones. It felt like a goodbye.

"If this makes no sense to you later," he said haggardly when they broke apart, "let me forget you."

Joey said nothing, clinging to the lapels of Kaiba's coat as if it could give him the strength to resist. Then he sank into the driver's seat of his car and started the engine, pulling away from the motionless monarch that was Kaiba, whose long, sweeping coat billowed about his frame, into the cold uncertainty of a fresh, settling frost.

Joey drove straight to Yugi's.

He thought perhaps that they could talk some of this out together, hash a plan that would not end with someone's heart shredded and in the gutter. He felt miserable for having left Kaiba like that, and furious for feeling miserable about it. He parked with heavy heart outside Yugi and Téa's house, and jogged up the metal steps to the door.

He knocked and Yugi's shape appeared almost instantly in the frosted glass.

"Hey, pal, I really need to- Woah, what happened?"

Yugi stood before him in the doorway, his cell-phone clutched in one white-knuckled hand. His face was ashen, his eyes blown wide like someone had made him stare at a bright light for hours on end.

"Yugi?" Joey said, concerned, stepping inside to take his shoulders. "Talk to me, pal."

"Ishizu called," he croaked. Joey felt his stomach drop. "She has the Items. She says… she says she can open a portal."

"What?"

"She says she's been trying for months to contact the Spirits again, to open a door so that we can commune with them properly. She knows how much I miss him, Joey." Yugi's eyes were swimming. "She can take me to him. I have to go to the museum."

"But, Yugi," said Joey, holding him at arm's length. "The guy's gone. I miss him too but it ain't right to do this. You have to let it go. Your life is here now, with Téa, with your wife. You got to look at the future, not the past."

"I know, Joey, but I just-"

"Yugi, don't."

The sound came as a surprise to both of them. Téa stood in the doorway in her nightgown, tears sparkling in her eyes.

"Téa…"

"I know what he meant to you," she said in a low, steady voice. "I know that he was part of your soul. But we let him go. He's gone. I couldn't bear if you brought him back. Knowing that it was supposed to be you and I forever and then having to do all that again… I just couldn't."

Yugi stood stock still, his face pale. He glanced helplessly at Joey who shook his head mutely, palms in the air.

Eventually, he swallowed, tracing the place below his ribs. "I'm sorry," he said, not meeting Téa's eyes. "I'm really sorry. I have to know."

With that, he snatched up his jacket from the chair and fled the kitchen. Joey hesitated, reaching out to Téa with one unsteady hand.

"Just go," she said, hiding her mouth behind her fist. Joey heard her voice break. "I know who comes first. Who always has."

Joey would have pulled her into a fierce hug if it he thought she would stand for it. Instead, he did the only thing he could think to do, which was to say,

"I'll bring him back."

He took off after Yugi in the direction of the museum.

Inside was dark. They slipped in through a side door that Yugi held open for him with trembling fingers, and snuck along a dim corridor that seemed to stretch endlessly before them like a rabbit hole. Joey kept a firm hand on Yugi's shoulder as they turned down a hallway and entered into the chamber that held the artefacts from Egypt.

Before them stood Ishizu, the Millenium Items spread out over a series of nails in a newly-erected make-shift wall. Marik stood beside her, looking grim. The Items were laid out in a kind of pattern, with the Puzzle in the centre. Strange symbols connected the Items in lines that glowed softly like phosphorous, scratched into the plinth with a sharp point. Yugi approached silently, and Joey kept close behind him.

"You shouldn't have come, Joey," said Ishizu. Joey scowled at her.

"I told you not to do this," he said. "Now it's all messed up."

"What is _he_ doing here?" came a voice from the shadows. Kaiba stepped forward, his arms folded across his chest. He was glaring at Joey, uncharacteristically sharp considering what had happened. Then Joey saw him glance pointedly at the others in the chamber and remembered that no-one else knew of their earlier tryst.

"I came to support my friend, Kaiba," Joey snapped with his best snarl, gripping Yugi's shoulder. "No need to be so fucking rude all the time. You got a real mean-streak asshole, and if it were up to me-"

"Guys, who's that?"

Yugi pointed into the shadows on Ishizu's far side. A small, slight man with long, silver hair stepped timidly into the light. He was trembling from head to foot.

" _Bakura?"_

"No way!"

"We haven't seen you in _years_."

"Everyone said you disappeared-"

"Bakura has kindly agreed to help me with this," Ishizu said, effectively cutting off their confused ejaculations. Still three pairs of eyes hovered on the pitiful, frail frame of their once-friend. "If you would all come closer."

They stepped forward and were each directed to lay a finger on the item that had once chosen them. Kaiba rested a stiff pointer on the strong, golden rod. Bakura rested two shaking hands on the outer edges of the large ring without a word to anyone. Marik reached above him to touch the rotund, golden Eye as Yugi pressed his palm over the iris of the Puzzle. Electric power tingled in his palm.

"As some of the Items are missing their hosts, I will not be able to hold the power for long," said Ishizu. Joey noticed that sparkling against her olive throat was the rich gold of the Necklace. "Be ready."

She reached out her fingers to touch its surface. Her eyes closed and she spoke soft words under her breath.

All at once, the air broke apart. A blinding light filled the room, blowing the coat-tails of Yugi's jacket up behind him. Joey threw both his arms up to shield his eyes and he watched through the slit between them as one-by-one the others began to lose their grip on the Millennium Items. Dark tendrils shot from the portal straight at Bakura, who cried out and fled without a glance back. Joey watched him disappear into the depths of the museum with the patter of trainers on stone.

" _Yu…gi…"_

Joey whirled around. The voice had come from everywhere all at once, and yet from somewhere. Whipping about to face the portal, he turned just in time to see Yugi, eyes blown wide as saucers, sink an arm into the blinding swirl of light in the centre of the room.

"Ishizu, close it!"

Ishizu ignored her brother, who was frantically yanking on Yugi's arm to no avail. Ishizu instead called out to Yugi,

"Find him, Yugi! Your soul is restless, you need answers!"

"Stop!" bellowed Kaiba, rushing forward as Marik was knocked high into the air by the light. He slammed into Kaiba, and they toppled to the floor in a heap.

" _Yu…gi… you… mustn't…"_

There was no mistaking it. The booming voice that resonated under every tile and shook the lamps in their sconces belonged to the Pharaoh. It was a caution. A warning. Yugi was about to make a terrible mistake. He turned to catch Joey's eye, the light from the portal dancing about his hair and face, illuminating the tears that sparkled on his cheeks.

"I'm sorry," he mouthed, and slipped into the portal.

"NO!"

Joey lunged for the portal, his bellow startling Ishizu who found herself knocked to one side as Joey came barrelling past. He shot out two quick arms and threw them around Yugi's waist just as…

 _Breaking… fracturing…_

His torso sank into the pool of light.

He could feel his skin splitting. The parts of him that were in the portal felt as though every nerve were being wrenched apart, ripped away like tearing fabric. His heart seared with pain and ceased to beat. His eyeballs, dry as bone, cracked in his skull. He thought he saw his own face surge out of him, followed by his own head, his own hair. His teeth, throbbing as if each one were struck with sharp hammer blows, grinned back at him from at least a foot away. His shoulders yanked themselves from their sockets and rocked out of his body of their own accord. He was utterly rigid with agony. He could only scream, and hold on tight.

 _White…_

As each piece came away it was replaced with a great calm. Such relief Joey had never felt before. It was soft and warm as a mother's arms, with a delicious smell of freshly-baked bread and cotton sheets. Somehow, he knew that here, he would be safe, sequestered in this light-filled place. No-one would harm him or his friends again.

 _His friends…_

Yugi was still in his grip, pliant as a wool doll. His eyes were fixed on something in the distance and Joey tore his gaze away from his grotesque, grinning reflection that sprouted from his torso to follow his line of sight. He thought he could see, far away in the bloom, a tall, sturdy figure, whose hair was big and spiked like Yugi's, whose regal cape gaped open and fell and rose with the heavenly wind. It was as if seen through a haze. They would be with him again, but it was not time yet.

 _Nothing…_

Yugi was crying, his tears splashing away into nothing at his feet.

Joey was losing his grip on Yugi's forearms. He was slipping into the void, turning to smoke under Joey's fingers. He cried out, an echo that sounded as if underwater and far away in a dream, frantically pulling Yugi back, but the thing stretching like a snake from his body was writhing and screaming in his face and he could hardly see…

Strong arms suddenly fixed about his chest. With a great tug, they began to haul him back from the light. Yugi became more solid with every surge backwards, and the other Joey scrabbled fruitlessly at his arms, trying to break their hold. Blood pooled from the wounds and splashed into nothing. Joey could feel a chest against his back, warm and real. He pressed into it, and with a great heave, pulled Yugi out of the portal.

They landed in a sprawl on the museum tiles, ashen and splashed with blood. Yugi twitched on top of Joey, and Joey gripped him tighter lest he begin to dematerialise again. Joey laid spread against Kaiba's warm, reassuring chest; his heavy, panicked breathing quick in Joey's ear: the only thing he could hear aside from the roar of adrenaline.

"Make it stop!" cried Yugi, to Ishizu.

She pressed her hands to the item at her throat. The portal flickered, bloomed brilliantly for a second, and then vanished.

Yugi was shaking, Joey thought, or was it him? He could feel Yugi's body beneath his fingers, shuddering and pulsing with terrified sobs but there was something wrong with his hands. It was like half of his feeling was gone. Half of him could no longer feel or see Yugi, trembling before him. He took his hands away and examined them. They _looked_ the same.

"Hey, Kaiba, what…"

But Kaiba was not listening. He was staring, rigid and transfixed to a sight somewhere above him and on his left. He glanced up, expecting nothing, feeling nothing.

Half-tangible, sticking snake-like out of his hipbone and floating like a genie, was another Joey. Only this did not look like Joey. He was grotesque, with gargoyle-like features and his face appeared to be melting, reforming and melting again. Then Joey realised it was becoming bloodied, falling away and then healing itself. His teeth were sharp and jagged. In his reptilian hand he held a deck of Duel Monster cards.

"Hello, Kaiba," it hissed, in a twisted mockery of Joey's voice. "Thought you could save me, did you, pal? Too late. Look at him, he's already dead."

Joey frowned. _Was_ he? He didn't _feel_ dead. But then, he figured, he didn't actually know what being dead felt like. From what he remembered, it was a bit like sleeping, so was this a dream? It was all very-

"What is it?" he heard Kaiba demand from a great distance away, breaking his line of thought. "Ishizu, what the fuck is it?!"

"I think-" Ishizu started, but then the Other Joey began to speak again.

"Don't know me, Kaiba?" it asked, almost as though it was offended. "I'm surprised. We know each other quite intimately, don't we? I've seen your darkness, Kaiba. _We've_ been part of it for a long time. You might think that you were saved but you were kidding yourself, and now you've got to live with the truth."

Kaiba said nothing to the figure, instead twisting the real Joey's face to look at him. Joey felt his neck turn, and thought he could maybe see Kaiba somewhere, even though he was right in front of him, but none of it sank in. He felt like the world was separated by a great bubble, and the only thing that was real was the agony every time the Other Joey spoke.

"Wheeler," Kaiba said fiercely, "can you hear me?"

With a roar of anguish, the Other Joey ripped Kaiba's hands away, forcing him to look it in the bloodied, gruesome eye.

"Come on, man," it cried, its voice a high-pitched echo. "He's gone, now. Soon I'll be all that's left. Are you sad? Are you gonna break down again? I know how much you loved him, Kaiba. And I know how much he hated you. You were the monster in his nightmares when it wasn't the broken bottle or the fists. It was you. It was you who humiliated and trampled him, who destroyed his confidence and ripped his heart out over and over. And now you killed him. And I'm his ghost. That's right, I'm his ghost!"

"YUGI!" Kaiba was bellowing. "What do we do?"

Maybe Joey was in Kaiba's arms, being shaken around. It felt strange, like floating. He felt sick and disoriented and tired. Maybe if he stopped moving, the world would fall away and he could die in peace. If only it would stop _hurting_.

Yugi scrambled over, his face sunken. He stood on shaky legs.

"You!" he shouted, pointing. Joey saw nine of Yugi, with nine pointed fingers. He blinked and around they swam. "You are his darkness, aren't you! We will defeat you!"

"How can you, little Yugi, when it used to be me kicking you all around the schoolyard, remember?" Other Joey laughed, surging towards Yugi. Yugi punched out a splayed hand, and the thing faltered, shuddering, and Joey screamed, the pain searing through him.

He felt himself being lowered to the floor and then Kaiba was stood over him.

"Let me," he said quietly. Yugi nodded, backing away, as Kaiba assembled a Duel Disk on his outstretched arm. The Other Joey grinned, showing twin rows of jagged teeth, and slotted its deck into the Disk on its disfigured limb.

"Let's duel, Kaiba!" it crowed, swelling with excitement. An eye burst and dribbled down its cheek. "I can't wait to destroy you, like you deserve!"

"Wheeler couldn't beat me as it is, so I doubt you'll hold up," Kaiba spat.

"You cheater! You slut! You don't stand a ghost of a chance!"

The air shifted as the Other Joey made his first move, and the ghostly shape of a monster card bloomed on the battlefield between him and Kaiba. Kaiba stood about ten feet away – as far as he could in the cramped museum space. Yugi knelt beside Joey, tilting him up as the duel began to rage. Yugi's face swam into view.

"Yug," said Joey weakly. "What's goin' on?"

"Oh, Joey." Yugi's eyes were swimming, his face pale as snow. "You shouldn't have followed me into that portal. Your soul couldn't take it."

"My soul?" Joey looked up at the grossly disproportioned creature that almost resembled him. "That's not my..?"

"No, no," said Yugi. "He's… it's your darkness. The place we went where the Pharaoh is now, it's a spirit realm. Your soul belongs there but there are parts of you that cannot enter. I know that now. I almost lost myself to that void. To be with the Pharaoh." Tears were falling hot and fast down his cheeks, splashing onto the tiles.

"So what's that, Yug?" said Joey, trying his best to focus on the duel.

"It's a part of you that you will leave behind when your time comes, Joey."

"Thank goodness for that, eh?"

"Kaiba!" The Other Joey was screeching, setting a card face-down. It shimmered into being in the zone, hovering inches above the floor. "I will win this, and when I do, I'm taking him to the Shadow Realm. You'll never see him again, never touch him again! The darkness is where he belongs, and even you won't be able to pull him out."

"Shut up!" Kaiba bellowed. "You're more than annoying normally but this is just _painful_. Joey, I'm going to win this!"

Joey half-raised a weak fist in support.

The Other Joey duelled with a deck that was a mockery of the one Joey had lovingly put together himself. The monsters were gruesome versions of the cards that Joey knew and loved. His heart was in that deck, but this thing had no heart. It cackled and screamed in a twisted cacophony that barely resembled Joey's voice, and when Kaiba began to take the upper hand, it started to round on Joey, weak and feeble on the floor, to bait Kaiba.

However, Yugi stood before him, feet planted evenly and firmly on the flagstones, his outstretched hand creating a barrier between Joey and the monster that wanted to hurt him.

"You can't defeat me," it said in a voice that was grating as nails on a chalkboard. It darted around Yugi to leer at Joey sprawled on the floor. "What would your father say if he knew you fucked a man? Do you miss daddy? Do you miss how he hurt you?"

"SHUT UP!" Kaiba bellowed from across the room. "It's your _move_ , deadbeat!"

"You hear that, Joey? You hear what he calls you? I'm going to tear him apart for you, Joey. I'll protect you. We belong together. I'll rip him apart slowly and make you watch."

"Take him down, Kaiba," Joey shouted weakly from the floor. Kaiba snorted.

"Of course." He raised a triumphant arm and summoned his trump card, the magnificent Blue-Eyes White Dragon. It stood proud and luminous in the museum room, its eyes – such a brilliant, pale blue that they were almost white – piercing through the gloom. Joey, through his haze and misery, saw in the facets of its scales, the edges of cut glass.

"You told me you couldn't fix it," he murmured deliriously to himself. In the roar of Kaiba's monster, nobody heard him.

The Other Joey, too busy mocking and distracting, had nothing in his hand, or on the field that could come close to holding out against the might of the Blue Eyes card.

Well, Joey reasoned from the floor, he always had a tough time beating Kaiba anyway. He watched with something akin to amusement as Kaiba's dragon tore a hole in the twisted version of himself with its lightning beam.

"NO!" the Other Joey screamed, staring in horror as his Life Points plummeted. "I'm part of him, Kaiba! If you defeat me, Joey will be destroyed as well! You'll lose him forever!"

"Don't listen to it, Kaiba!" Yugi shouted across the din. "It's true, he is a part of Joey, but we have to defeat him. He has to go back!"

"Back into Wheeler?" Kaiba yelled. "Why?"

"Joey," said Yugi, whipping around to crouch beside his friend. Joey struggled to look at him. "You're one of the strongest people I know. This thing is part of who you are. I can feel it. You are different to me and Kaiba. You conquered your darkness when you saved me all those years ago in the schoolyard, do you remember? You are the master of this, and when the right time comes, you'll go your separate ways. Do you understand what I have to do?"

Slowly, Joey nodded. Yugi clapped his shoulder once and rose to his feet.

"Joey," he cried, stepping in front of Kaiba. "You know where you belong. You are our friend, and my hero. Kaiba's heart and Téa's brother. You are perfect as you are: good and bad, and I am going to make you whole again. Return!"

He splayed his hand again. A great bang rattled the glass cases in the museum and the Other Joey screamed again, curling up like a dying spider.

"NO!"

"Kaiba, now!"

"With my Blue-Eyes White Dragon I destroy your monster and take the remainder of your life points!" The Blue-Eyes hologram reared up like a great white horse and blasted a hot, glowing beam directly at Joey's mad half. It evaporated in the strength of the blast. Kaiba gave a victorious and muted thumbs-down. "You lose."

Now Joey was screaming. It was though a thousand hot knives were being dragged along his skin, opening his flesh and suddenly all of him could feel. He heard Kaiba's Duel Disk clatter to the floor, and the pounding of his footsteps as he sprinted over to drop by Joey's side. Kaiba scooped him up, gripping his face with one sweaty hand.

"Wheeler, if you die I swear I'll come after you just to rip your head off!"

Joey was going blind from the pain. Yugi sank down beside them to place his hand on Joey's chest. It glowed with a throbbing miasma. "This fucking hurts, Kaiba, you gotta kill me now!"

"Shut up." Kaiba grabbed his chin, forcing him to look up. "You're going to suck it up and be whole again: the idiot, amateur duellist that I need. I'm not going to let you go, do you hear me?"

"Heh," said Joey weakly. "That was almost like another 'I love you'."

"Don't make it weird," Kaiba said in a low voice, and pressed a kiss to Joey's pale lips. The sensation was filling, like eating something delicious. Joey's body burned for a moment longer, then the pain was gone, sinking from his skin into his bones and fading away. He slumped in relief in Kaiba's arms, sweat sticking his shirt to his body. Yugi's hand was gone. Kaiba's long arms and firm, relieved kisses kept him conscious.

"Ishizu," said Yugi, rising to his feet. His voice was wild and angry. "You could have killed him."

"That was unforeseen," said Ishizu, touching her bare neck. "Joey's dark half was certainly something to behold."

"He's had it worse than a lot of us," said Yugi, through clenched teeth. "But he conquered his darkness in the greatest act of bravery I've ever known. I'm lucky to call him my friend."

"You learnt something about yourself, as well, didn't you, Yugi?" Ishizu said, stepping forward. In her hands was the Puzzle, glimmering in the fluorescent light. Yugi took it with shaking fingers. "What has become of him?"

Yugi's eyes swam as he took the Puzzle, gently caressing its silken sides. "He was happy. So happy. And safe and warm, and he was waiting for me. When my time comes, we'll all go to him. I was wrong to think that he needed me to save him. He was warning me not to come, to wait until I was ready and…" He paused, stepping over to the plinth and slotting the Puzzle back into its mould. "I know now that all my love was meant for this realm all along. For my wife. For my friends. Because there's plenty of it where we're going."

"Girls," said Ishizu suddenly. "It's safe, so come out, won't you."

Out from behind a corner stepped Téa and Isamu. Yugi tripped in his haste to fling himself into Téa's arms, choking on his apologies. She forgave him with soothing pets to his hair, reassuring him that it was the real, present Yugi that she loved, not the memory of the Pharaoh.

Isamu stood with a calm countenance beside them, staring with wide eyes at Kaiba curled protectively around Joey's slumped form. She did not scowl, but the corners of her mouth tightened, and with an icy glare in Ishizu's direction, swept away with the grace of a hawk down the corridor, leaving only the clacking of her heels in her wake.

Kaiba dragged Joey unsteadily to his feet, dusting his knees off onto the floor. He adjusted his huge coat on his shoulders leisurely and, once he was neat again, rounded on Ishizu.

"I trust we won't be seeing each other for a long time," he said, his voice dangerously quiet. Marik hurried to stand beside his sister, laying his hands warningly on her shoulders.

"I think our research is concluded actually," he said, pulling her away. She shook him off and stood facing Kaiba, her back straight and proud.

"Perhaps the things I've done have upset you, Kaiba," she said. "I didn't mean to put a life in danger." She slipped the Necklace from about her neck and pressed it into its divot in the display case. It settled comfortably in the slot and some electric hum in the room that no-one noticed before seemed to die down.

"Sometimes we see what we need," continued Ishizu, taking each of the pieces from the wall and returning them to their plinth. "And sometimes we spend our whole lifetimes believing we were meant for one purpose, when really we always existed for another." She stroked the glittering edge of the Puzzle with one long, brown finger. "The price of discovery is steep, but one we all need to be willing to pay, when it's time."

"So what did we discover?" snorted Joey, struggling to find his footing on shaky legs. "Not to open portals to the afterlife?"

Ishizu lifted a long finger and pointed directly at Kaiba's heart.

"Sometimes, only when we put broken things back together do we appreciate them for what they were in the first place. Do you see now?"

Kaiba said nothing, and his eyes were like glass. Ishizu lowered her arm, and when she spoke again it was in barely more than a whisper,

"You've all worked very hard to keep things broken. I think it's more beautiful now for being mended than ever before."

Joey glanced at Kaiba, whose usually sturdy gaze had dropped to the floor. Across from them, Yugi and Téa glanced at one another, their tight-lipped smiles heavy with abasement. Joey sighed, giving Kaiba's shoulder a pat.

"We get it, Ishizu," he said. "Just next time maybe write us a note or something?"

Ishizu smiled.

"Perhaps that's wise."

* * *

"If you'd have died, mutt, I'd have murdered you."

"Good to know."

Kaiba sat by Joey's beside in the ward, a book pinned open on his lap with his long fingers, and his coat draped over the armrest. Joey had been admitted the previous night, after being lifted from the museum floor and carried to Kaiba's waiting car. Kaiba insisted on being permitted to stay, and not many could be expected to turn down a Kaiba if he _insisted_.

Now with a Gameboy to occupy him, and meals provided, Joey recovered with his back against plump pillows, occasionally glancing over at Kaiba, who still frowned when he read. With his brow furrowed, and his soft hair falling against his forehead like that, Joey could still see the boy he knew from highschool.

The hospital door swung open, breaking Joey from his reverie. He paused his game to look up as Isamu swept into the room alone. All tight shoulders and stiff-skirt, her long hair glimmered in the light from the window, and her nails shone with a perfect manicure. A bodyguard stood outside in waiting.

"Joey," she said, approaching his bed slowly. "Are you alright?"

"Never been better," he grinned, patting the bed for her to sit. She did so, eyeing Kaiba warily. He did not move to greet her. "Considering I almost died and all. Kaiba here kicked my ass again, but this time I was actually grateful. Can you believe it?"

Isamu smiled sadly, stroking Joey's hand with soft fingers.

"Seto," she said suddenly, turning to Kaiba. "May I speak with you, privately?"

Kaiba glanced at Joey with a frown.

"Go on," said Joey. "I ain't going anywhere."

He nodded, and stood to follow Isamu outside. Awkwardly, the bodyguard came to join Joey in the room.

"Hey," said Joey in greeting. The man, whom Joey remembered as Cortes, stared straight ahead and said nothing, so Joey shrugged and returned to his game. He could see Kaiba's pointy profile through the window in the doors. Aside from the occasional curt nod, and slight dip in his brow, he barely moved or said a word. Joey craned his neck but could not see Isamu.

Presently, Kaiba returned and dismissed Cortes, who marched off without a second glance. Isamu was nowhere to be seen.

"What happened?" said Joey.

"My marriage is over," said Kaiba shortly, sinking back into the chair, as if that settled the matter.

"Because of us?"

"Yes, but she wanted the divorce anyway," he said. "We both agreed this marriage isn't working. Our interests no longer match, and she has something more pressing to deal with. Her father is retiring, and she will inherit his company."

"I thought he wouldn't let her?"

"Isamu Crane is a dextrous woman. She definitely proved herself within the months I was ill this year."

Joey was silent for a few moments, digesting this information.

"What does that mean?

"It means," said Kaiba, flicking through his book distractedly, "that I keep the land I was promised, with no more conditions, and we both get what we always wanted."

Joey felt himself grinning, laughter on his lips. "You get to be free."

Kaiba caught his eye and then he was smiling. A true smile; warm and bright. His teeth were neat, white and aligned, but one was a little bigger than the others, which was delightful. Joey had never seen Kaiba smile before – not really. His whole face was glowing; crow's feet just beginning to form at the corners of his eyelids. If Joey had his way they would be good and deep within the year.

"I know what I want, too," said Joey, sitting up quickly.

Kaiba allowed himself to be gathered to Joey's chest, humming into a deep, magnetic kiss that sent warmth all the way down to Joey's toes.

"I don't have any more Red-Eyes statues," Kaiba warned. Joey laughed and shut him up precisely.


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue

January 25th – Joey's Birthday

The holidays came and went that year all-too abruptly. Joey felt he barely took a breath as he rushed between homes, crunching through the deep snow to exchange gifts with Yugi and pat Téa's swelling belly. He watched Tristan gift a ring to Serenity on Christmas Eve and only clapped Tristan's shoulder with a cautionary look in his eye where once he might have forbidden it.

When asked about plans for his birthday, Joey would wave a nonchalant hand, comment idly on 'doing not much' and change the subject.

When the day arrived, Joey accepted their presents and cheer, dropping by each of their houses in turn, but always scooting away with an airy excuse of being, "a bit busy, sorry, pal! We can catch up tomorrow, I promise."

Upon leaving Serenity's, Tristan scurried up to Joey with the air of someone in the act of doing something untoward, and pressed a handful of crinkly condoms in his palm. Rather mortified, Joey directed his reddened countenance at him.

"It's your birthday," Tristan spurted, his series of jolly brandies causing his words to slur. "You been so hard to get hold of lately." He winked. "I know what the deal is."

Joey choked back an ironic laugh and accommodated him by slipping the goods into his pocket with a conspiratorial smirk.

After finally being allowed to leave Serenity's (not without a sizeable basket of goodies), he made his way to a bus stop on the outskirts of town. When he arrived, a sleek, back car sat waiting, its engine running with a hum as quiet as a the earth itself thrumming underfoot. Joey prepared a grin as the back window was rolled down. The falling snow drifted through the hatch and dusted the top of Kaiba's head as he poked it into the open air.

"Happy birthday," he said. "Need a lift?"

"Thanks," said Joey. Kaiba scooted aside as Joey popped the door open and slipped into the seat next to him.

"I hope you have cab fare," said Kaiba.

"I got snacks," Joey offered, lifting the huge basket into the seat in front of him. "I think there's champagne in here somewhere."

"I have something for you," said Kaiba, passing him an envelope as the car pulled away. "It isn't from me." The envelope was faintly scented like peaches. Joey noted his name in loopy handwriting on the front. He tugged it open and out fell a sheet of paper that resembled a ticket and a card. Inside it read,

 _Dear Joey,_

 _Happy birthday, darling. Here's a small gift from me. Steak dinner for two – take whomever you wish. I still owe you a proper one, don't I? Sorry everything turned out so messy._

 _With love,_

 _Isamu_

Sheepishly, Joey gathered up the note and the ticket and tucked them inside the basket. Kaiba watched him expectantly.

"Well," said Joey. "I guess that means there's no hard feelings?"

"She understands a lot more than anyone gave her credit for," said Kaiba. "Including myself."

"Nah, man, you always said she had a lot going for her," Joey shrugged, lounging back in the seat, stretching his legs out before him. "Wouldn't have married her if you thought she was a brainless deadbeat like me."

"I don't think that," said Kaiba quietly.

"Well, whatever," Joey said, stifling an enormous yawn. "I'm just glad it ain't a problem anymore. So how is un-married life?"

Kaiba hummed in his throat. "You know full-well."

"I think I do," said Joey, cheekily running a hand down his abdomen to palm himself through his jeans. Kaiba watched surreptitiously out of the corner of one eye.

"You're like a hound," he commented, sounding derisive until his breath caught and gave him away. Joey only laughed, tucking both hands behind his head for the rest of the ride.

The Kaiba mansion was so quiet that evening that it was almost tangible: the silence seemed to tremble so much so that when Kaiba slipped them through the enormous front door, the creak of wood reverberated a hundred times through the air. Joey shivered, stomping his feet and brushing the snow from his woolly hat. When Kaiba turned to set the security alarm, Joey set about knocking the snow from his Kaiba's shoulders as well.

"Don't make a mess on my floor," Kaiba said good-humouredly, shrugging off his soggy coat to reveal his gossamer, scarlet scarf that he flung unceremoniously on a coat-hook. When he turned away to lead the way to the kitchen, something made Joey slip it surreptitiously from the hook and stuff it in a back pocket.

In the kitchen, Joey sank into a worn wooden chair and propped his boots up on a stool next to a disused fireplace. The room was warm, unlike the chilly entrance hall, so he flopped out of his coat and spread his legs, sinking into a quiet stupor brought on by exhaustion and the change in temperature. Kaiba busied himself taking leftovers in Tupperware tubs from a large, chrome refrigerator. Joey peeked through one eye to watch his lean back and the strong angle of his shoulders as he dug. The warm, orange light reminded him of the night in the office where the evening sunlight chased them into each other's arms, and the glow had burnished all of Kaiba's hard edges until he shimmered like brass. Joey heaved himself from the chair, feeling the burn of all the lost years pool in the pit of his belly.

"Hey," he said, approaching the fridge. Kaiba paused to look at him, ribbons of chestnut hair falling into his eyes, his scowl ever-present, as if he had spent so long with an angle to his brow that resisting it was unnatural. Even so, Joey was bewitched, adoring the crooked downturn to his thin lips, the coolness of his gaze. How strange, to long for heat and passion and adventure, and to find it in the wintry stare of a man who so often resembled a statue.

But Joey had seen him emblazoned, and he was like the blue part of a fire: the hottest, and the brightest. The most dangerous.

In the light from the fridge, Joey saw Kaiba had the tiniest, lightest freckles dusting the bridge of his nose.

"Er," Joey said, trying and failing to act cool, "so what we eating?"

But Kaiba had already straightened up. Shutting the fridge door, he said,

"Do you need to eat?"

"Well, I'm kinda full of Yugi's cooking, to be honest, but you know me I can always-"

He stopped short as Kaiba slipped both hands into his hair and pulled him into a deep kiss.

"Wait, wait," Joey laughed, tilting back. Kaiba paused to look at him. "You not hungry?"

"No," Kaiba grunted, crushing him into another kiss. His arms squashed Joey flush against his body, his hand slipping into the back of Joey's jeans.

"Then why-" Joey began, pushing until Kaiba's back cracked against the fridge door. It groaned and the contents rattled, but Kaiba seemed quite happy to ignore it.

"For you," he was gasping, as Joey rucked up his turtleneck to slide his sweaty palms up Kaiba's sides. Kaiba cursed and shivered as the cold door stuck to the bare skin on his back. Feeling reckless, Joey whirled him around so that his front pressed into the door, and dropped to his knees, kissing and tonguing the frosty patch of skin at the small of his back. It felt good on his burning lips. Kaiba shuddered, his clammy fingers sliding across the glassy surface leaving trails like silver rivers. His breath ghosted on the chrome.

"For me?" Joey whispered, running his hands over the taut curvature of Kaiba's seat.

"Yes," Kaiba breathed.

Kaiba's hands formed into fists and he ducked his head, so turned-on it was stressful. Joey pushed himself to his feet and slipped his hands around Kaiba's waist to undo his belt. Then he sunk his nose into Kaiba's hair, pressing soft kisses into the planes of his nape, listening to the turbulent whisper of Kaiba's breathing. The scent of Kaiba's hair struck him as something warm, not like the sweet tang of peaches as he was so used to here, but more musky and deep, like the aroma of cinnamon and spices. He opened his mouth to push his whole tongue wetly against Kaiba's hot neck, half-expecting him to taste of gingerbread.

Kaiba shuddered again, his fingers scrabbling on the cool fridge door.

"So," said Joey, pushing Kaiba's trousers down to his thighs. Whether he was conscious of it or not, Joey noted how he spread his legs under Joey's roaming hands. "You got me a birthday present?"

"I already told you I don't have any more Duel Monster statues," Kaiba said in mock-exasperation. Joey hummed a laugh, rubbing Kaiba through his briefs. Kaiba ducked his head, hands twitching wildly as if they didn't know where to go. Joey ran his spare palm down Kaiba's forearm to steady him.

"Honestly, if you told me this was all you had planned I'd be more than okay with that," Joey murmured into Kaiba's neck. He stiffened, and Joey grinned. "Seriously?"

"I had planned to acquire a gift…" Kaiba began. He hesitated, curling his hands into fists. "I thought you would prefer…"

Joey's jubilance bloomed in him like a balloon, warming him to the tips of his toes. He scooped Kaiba against him so that he could feel Joey's arousal against his backside, and sucked kisses along Kaiba's thin, pale shoulders. Kaiba's hands gripped wildly back at Joey's body, finding his hips and his buttocks and-

"What's this?"

Kaiba was holding the red scarf. Joey had quite forgotten.

"Oh yeah, I put it in my back pocket from the wall," he said absently. "You were wearing it when I first realised I liked you."

"Take it," said Kaiba without hesitation. "A present."

"But you-"

"I'll survive."

Joey grinned, slipping the scarf through Kaiba's fingers. It trailed like smoke, the material was so light. It was strong too. Joey gave it a few experimental tugs. He glanced up at Kaiba, leaning forward on the fridge door for support, his arms above him. His thin, white wrists pressed together, stark as snow on gravel, gave Joey an idea.

"Hey, Kaiba…"

He carefully looped the material around Kaiba's wrists. Kaiba's fingers flexed sporadically in the binds.

"Is it too much?"

Kaiba shook his head so Joey finished the loop and tied it off. The scarf hung like trails of blood down Kaiba's pale arms and the dark fridge door.

" _Fuck_ ," Kaiba hissed, testing the bonds. The backs of his ears were as scarlet as his makeshift rope. Joey took one in his teeth, feeling Kaiba shudder under him as if earthquakes were wracking his body. Carefully, he slipped Kaiba's pants down. He scooped Kaiba's midriff in one arm, pressing himself against Kaiba's backside, pinning his hands to the fridge with the other.

"You're so hot," Joey breathed, his hips snapping hard against Kaiba's bare body. Kaiba huffed, but Joey had no time to decide if it was in humour or frustration. "How did it take me… this long to realise…?"

"Twenty-three," Kaiba panted, his breath short as Joey humped him against the fridge door. "Twenty-three years… are you going to fuck me or not?"

Joey ripped down his jeans and shorts, relishing in the press of his bare cock against Kaiba's flesh. Kaiba shivered hard, rubbing himself against Joey's erection.

"Oh, _God_ ," Joey gasped and without thinking, his hand flew to Kaiba's binds. "Of course… of course I am."

"Wait, wait-" Kaiba straightened with some difficulty, propping himself up on the fridge with his bound wrists. Joey found he was in no mood to be dissuaded and grabbed a soft fistful of Kaiba's thigh to keep himself steady through his incessant rocking. "Joey… stop."

Hearing Kaiba choke out entire words through Joey's unyielding haze of sex was enough to bring him to a brief, juddering halt. "What?"

"In the drawer there," huffed Kaiba, "there's lube… and other things… that we need."

"You keep lube in your kitchen?" Joey laughed breathily, reaching over to extract it. Kaiba's ears, already crimson, somehow glowed redder.

"I thought we may not make it upstairs," he admitted quietly.

Joey rubbed the sweat from his brow on the skin of one forearm as he dragged the little tube from its nest under some kitchen towels. He snapped the lid and coated two fingers generously. Kaiba's shoulders squared, his fingers flexing and his legs spreading as far as the expanse of his belt would allow.

"You ready?" Joey asked of Kaiba's ducked head, slipping his fingers below. Kaiba said nothing, but the sudden, sharp incline of his head was enough. "Right."

Kaiba writhed as Joey worked into him. He gasped and bucked, arching his back to the point where Joey thought it sacrilege if it weren't kissed and gentled. He looked up at where his hand held Kaiba's wrists, and slowly pulled the red scarf's trailing ends down to drape them like gossamer over Kaiba's pale back.

"I ain't really one for sentiments," he said in a low voice, "but considering everything, I want you to know something."

Slipping a hand into his pocket, he drew out one of Tristan's condoms and, using one hand and his teeth, rather dextrously ripped it open. Application took two hands, but eventually he was ready and rubbing soothing circles on Kaiba's back with one slick hand, whilst working him back open with the other.

"I ain't ever gonna expect anything of you, or make you be something you're not," Joey whispered, dragging himself to Kaiba's entrance with such inexorableness that every part of his body felt a pull to immerse, like Kaiba were a magnet, and he a sheet of iron. "I ain't never gonna think you're less or more than exactly who you are, Seto Kaiba. You done a lot of fooling yourself into thinking you gotta make a lot of sacrifices, but you can't fool me. I still see that goofy nerd in the back of the classroom every time."

The scarf on Kaiba's trembling back looked as though it were laid on snow, and Joey thought back to that night of the engagement party, where the snow had caught on Kaiba's long lashes and settled like stars in his hair.

"From day one you were in my mind. And I always thought you were gorgeous," he told Kaiba's back. "You gotta know that."

"I do now," Kaiba said, in the lowest voice, as Joey pressed inevitably inside.

"Then promise me you'll be you from now on."

"I promise."

 _The End_

* * *

"You say, too late to start with your heart in a headlock.

I don't believe any of it. […]

You know you're better than this." – Imogen Heap, _Headlock_

* * *

This fic is probably one giant midlife crisis.

* * *

thanks so much for reading. Just a couple of notes:

it's been a long time since i uploaded my last story because I like to write, edit and finalise a work before i put it up. It really bugs me when there's a half-finished fic sitting around for months, but i FINALLY got this done (wow) and so here it is "in all it's gory - uhh glory". i'm still not 100% sure about the ending but i just can't fuck with it anymore

i was reading Jane Eyre right before I wrote this, so I guess that's why it comes across as sort of period-romancey in places and why Kaiba goes on Rochester-esque rants when he's explaining things lol. I'm glad Isamu's character is coming off fairly well. i was worried she'd just come across as a cockblocker so i tried especially hard to make her her own person without becoming the centre of the story.

thank you for all the kind words. i read all my comments and get giddy over every single one. you are all sweethearts and make the editing hours worth it

might take a break from writing for a while to focus on my art career, but knowing me, it won't be a lengthy hiatus. if you want to follow my stuff, you can find me over at rbygio on tumblr and instagram


End file.
